Destiny
by DFM
Summary: What if Mulder was partnered with Charles Scully instead of Dana? MSR, WIP Revised
1. Airport Collision

**Title:** Destiny  
**Author:** Devin  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Category:** SAR  
**Keywords:** MSR, S/O (very, very minor), AU  
**Spoilers:** Season 1 and 2 mostly  
**Summary:** What if Mulder was partnered with Charles Scully instead of Dana?  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine.  
**Author's Note:** Reaction to the MSR Preservation Society's 'what if' challenge. Thank you so much to Cathey for being my beta for this incredibly long journey, which has occasionally given both of us headaches. Also, a huge thanks to Nina for being my sounding board and willing to tear my story apart for this rewrite.

Part 1  
Hoover Building  
Basement Office

A knock resounded around the small basement office but Mulder didn't look up from the slides he was examining. "Sorry, nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted," he called out hoping whoever it was would go away.

No such luck. When he realized that whoever it was wouldn't be ignored anymore, he turned around to face the intruder.

The stranger stuck out a hand and said, "Agent Mulder, I'm Charlie Scully, I've been assigned to work with you."

Mulder glanced over the newcomer, before responding to the outstretched hand. Charlie Scully wasn't quite what he was expecting, average height and build, and hair that was just short of making him a carrot-top.

"Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded? So, who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail, Scully?"

He didn't seem phased by this question and simply answered. "Actually, I asked for a transfer, this is what I drew."

Mulder knew that wasn't exactly a lie, Agent Scully had been asking to get out of the New York field office on several occasions but he also knew that he hadn't asked for one in several months, he let it slide however. "That short straw is a real bitch when it comes up, isn't it?"

Mulder didn't give him a chance to respond, however. "You aren't squeamish about dead bodies are you?" and, again without waiting for a response, he quickly dropped the slide carousel into its slot and began the slide show.

* * *

On the road  
Bellefleur, Oregon

"You didn't tell me this case had already been investigated." Charlie said as he casually flipped through the case file, a frown creasing his brow.

"Yeah," Mulder began with a flourish and another crack of a sunflower seed. "The FBI got involved after the first three deaths when local authorities failed to turn up any evidence. Our boys came out here, spent a week, enjoyed the local salmon which, with a little lemon twist, is just to die for, if you pardon the expression. Without explanation, they were called back. The case was reclassified and buried in the X-Files, till I dug it up last week."

"And now we're going ... where?" he asked, not particularly feeling like sharing his thought on the case yet. 'You get what you give, partner.'

"To do a little grave digging."

They would have gone the rest of the way in silence had something weird not occurred. The radio started to go through as many channels as possible, as quickly as possible, without being touched, and then let out an ear-piercing squeal of protest.

Stopping the car as casually as one could in such a situation, Mulder got out of the car. Charlie clambered out the car after him as Mulder retrieved an aerosol can from the trunk and Charlie watched him spray-paint a big 'x' on the pavement.

"You just felt like doing graffiti on a public highway?" Charlie asked, his arms crossed over his chest in a defensive position, clearly not understanding the move.

Mulder said nothing and, after glancing skyward, got back in the car.

Charlie, after a moment's hesitation followed suit, but not before thinking, 'Either this is the weirdest hazing ritual of all time, or they've partnered me with a nutcase.'

* * *

'How did I end up here?' Charlie asked himself as he stood in a small graveyard in Oregon.

One threatening statement from the small town Detective and a speculative, "Makes you wonder what's in those other two graves," and here they were, soaking wet from rain, and with Charlie trying to figure out if his new partner needed to be fitted for a jacket that made him hug himself.

It wasn't that Charlie was greatly surprised by Mulder's theories. One did not get the nickname of 'Spooky' and become the first 'ghost story' told at the academy by having run of the mill ideas.

No, what Charlie hadn't expected was for him to make sense.

Shaking his head to try and dislodge such a thought he told himself, 'No! Alien abduction does not make sense. It does not make sense for a boy who had been in a vegetative state for the past four years to be committing these crimes.

"You think I'm crazy," Mulder didn't sound completely surprised but he did look a little disappointed, staring at his partner expectantly while the rain continued to slide down his face.

And yes, that was exactly what Charlie should think... but for some reason...

"What?" Mulder blurted out when he noticed Charlie's face pale.

Charlie sighed, not quite sure but something was bothering him about the case. "Peggy O'Dell's watch stopped a couple of minutes after nine. I made a note of it when I saw the body," he said. Then looked up in time to see the ever-present smirk on Mulder's face return, an unexpected laugh exploded from his lips.

'And down the rabbit hole we go.'

* * *

Dulles International Airport

'I can't believe I'm running late,' Dana thought, chastising herself the entire way to the gate. Charlie really needed to get his own car, because she could not handle running back and forth between picking him up and then getting herself to the hospital on time.

Completely caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even see the guy who was also in his own world and walking toward her. Due to both of their lack of attention to reality they collided into each other at full speed, causing both to almost fall over. They both straightened and were prepared to verbally duke it out but, when they opened their mouths, all that came out were apologies.

"I'm sorry," they said at the same time. To which they replied, "Oh that's okay, it's my fault."

They both laughed and the guy said, "Wait. Let's try this again." He held out his hand for her to shake. "Hi, I'm Fox." He wasn't sure why he chose his first name for his introduction but it felt right for some reason.

She smiled at him and shook his hand. "Dana."

* * *

Dana Scully's Apartment

Charlie looked at his sister in complete shock, as if she had turned into an alien... or Melissa. "You're telling me you ran into this guy, talked to him for five minutes, and now you have a date? What about Ethan?"

"We broke up a week ago," Dana explained exasperatedly, choosing to ignore his first sentence, while thumbing quickly through a stack of mail.

"I know," he replied, adopting her tone, "but you two never really break up. You'll be back together within the month," Charlie finished as he exhaustedly plopped down on the couch.

"Not this time," she stated simply, not particularly caring to discuss Ethan. Dana tossed the mail onto her desk and headed for her bedroom, thumping her brother's ear playfully as she passed.

"Ow!" he squealed, rubbing his injured ear and glaring at his sister as she disappeared down the hall. "Okay, okay. But what about this other guy? Am I going to have to vacate the premises because you need to get Ethan 'out of your system' with Mr. Airport?"

"No! Geez, Charlie, you're starting to sound just like Bill," Dana yelled back over her shoulder before slamming the bedroom door.

"Well there's no need to get nasty!" he called out, not caring if she heard him or not. Charlie folded his arms across his chest, sunk lower into the cushions of the couch and pouted ever so slightly.

* * *

Lone Gunmen Headquarters

"So you're sure you don't want us to check up on this chick?" Frohike asked as they all sat around the small table. Technical information and photos strewn about the area was in serious jeopardy of being greased by the cheese steaks they were scarfing down.

"Yeah man. It sounds like a perfect set up to me," Langly agreed. "She just happens to run into you and you hit it off right away? No way."

Mulder let out a laugh. "You guys are so paranoid," he choked out as he popped another morsel into his mouth.

There was a fit of coughing from Frohike in which Mulder was sure he heard the words 'pot' and 'kettle'.

"Okay, guys," Byers placated, trying to change the subject. "So, how's your new partner working out?"

"Oh you know," Mulder commented off-handedly, waving his hand in dismissal, "he's got all the answers and an imagination narrower than a pencil."

"Didn't buy the alien abduction theory, huh?"

"Worse. He thinks Elvis is dead," he said calmly, his poker face intact.

This comment only earned him two eye rolls, a snort of laughter, and three 'you are so full of it' looks.

"So obviously he has to go then," Frohike replied sarcastically.

Nodding, and taking another bite out of his sandwich, Mulder just smiled.

* * *

Hoover Building  
Three Weeks Later

Charlie was having the crappiest day. He had woken up an hour late and discovered there was no more hot water. Needless to say, he was fully awake, if not alert. He had to call for a cab because Dana was working a double shift at the hospital due to a flu epidemic that was sweeping through the staff. 'You'd think doctors would remember to take their flu shots,' Charlie groused to himself.

Once he actually arrived at work, since the cab driver had insisted on taking the 'scenic' route, making him even later for his meeting with Blevins, then only to discover the elevator was temporarily out of commission and was forced to walk up God only knew how many flights of stairs.

Blevins' secretary gave him a weird look when he turned up, which told him that his day was evident on his face, and told him to go right in. The meeting turned into one of the longest of the year, if not decade. Apparently he was not 'debunking' the X-Files fast enough for anyone's taste and was therefore subjected to a lecture that would make any high school principal proud and was told to report to Assistant Director Walter Skinner after their next case.

When he got down to the basement Mulder was nowhere to be found and neither was a drop of coffee. Quickly, he set about making a pot, and poured himself a cup before finally heading to his desk to try and put a dent in their paperwork.

Five minutes later Mulder walked into the office whistling and had a big grin on his face. 'Why the hell is he so chipper?' Charlie briefly mused but quickly decided against that line of inquiry. 'On second thought I really don't want to know.'

"Hey Scully. Where have you been? It's almost noon."

"Don't ask," Charlie grumbled and then glared at the back of Mulder's head as he reached for the coffee pot again. 'If looks could kill, Agent Mulder, there would be a dagger between your eyes.' With that thought firmly planted, he dove back into the heap of paperwork.

And so the day continued, with Charlie laying as low as possible, since human interaction clearly would not be a wise move at that point. At five, he practically sprinted out of the office and went to hail another cab. Of course only then did he remember that he couldn't go back to his sister's because she had some big date tonight with her mystery airport man. 'I need to get my own apartment. They should allow more time to make arrangements before transferring people.'

Sighing in frustration he gave the cab driver instructions to his parents' house and settled back for the long ride.

* * *

Dana's Apartment  
That Night

Dana was just taking the manicotti out of the oven when the doorbell rang. "Just a minute," she called. Once she had set the dish down and had stashed away the oven mitts she had been using, she went and answered it.

"Hi," she said and moved to let him in before closing the door behind him.

Mulder looked at her outfit and around the apartment, both of which looked like they'd taken some preparation time, and commented with a teasing grin as he placed the bag he was carrying on the kitchen table, "You have a hot date tonight or something?"

Dana rolled her eyes and walked passed him, back into the kitchen with Mulder slowly following. "Yeah but you can hang around until he shows up." She put pasta and salad on two plates, turned and handed him one.

Clutching his heart in a 'not quite Oscar-worthy' performance, he replied, "You wound me."

"I'm sure you'll get over it, Fox, but if not you're lucky I'm a doctor. Did you bring the movie?"

"But of course," he said, setting his plate on the table and pulling out three videos from the rental store bag: Caddyshack, Steel Magnolias, and My Cousin Vinny.

"Good," she commented as they headed for the couch and surprised him by choosing the middle ground of 'My Cousin Vinny'.

* * *

Across Town  
Same Time

Charlie's day was not improving. His parents were being pleasant enough but the last time they had seen each other was clearly on all of their minds.

Last time he had come for a visit Charlie had told his parents that he was joining the FBI.

To say his father was not pleased would be like saying the Leaning Tower of Pisa was slightly tilted. They had gotten into a big argument about how he had not paid for his college education so that Charlie could throw it away on a government salary and horrible hours. It was the closest he had ever come to getting in a fistfight with his dad.

His mom had tried to be supportive but he could tell that she wasn't thrilled at the prospect either.

Bill had been ready to disown him, while Missy had been thrilled; he suspected she was tired of being the only rebel in the family. Dana had been a surprise though. He hadn't expected her to be quite as outraged as Bill, but he expected her to at least agree with Dad. She hadn't, in fact she almost sounded like she wished she had joined too.

* * *

Dana's Apartment

Mulder had no idea when it happened but at some point during the movie, Dana had fallen asleep. Those double shifts at the hospital were really putting a strain on her.

Her head was resting on his shoulder and he could swear he heard light snoring. Mulder couldn't hold back the smile as he looked down at her.

It was so weird. He knew next to nothing about her, not even her last name now that he thought about it, but he felt more comfortable with Dana than he had felt with anyone else in his life. And that was after only 3 weeks.

He could have stayed like that for a long time, but of course as he decided this, the phone began ringing incessantly. "Dana? Your phone's ringing. Dana?" But she was out like a light. So he gently lifted her head off his shoulder, resting it against the back of the couch, and went to pick up her phone.

"Hello?"

There was a long pause and then a very confused and familiar sounding voice said, "Is Dana there?"

"She can't come to the phone right now, can I take a message?" Mulder asked in his best assistant voice, while searching for a pen and pad of paper.

"Um, just tell her that her brother called."

It took a moment for his mind to connect the voice with a name but when he did he almost dropped the phone. "Scully?" he cautiously inquired, turning ever so slightly towards the sleeping figure on the couch.

Another long pause, "Mulder?"

A groggy voice from the couch said, "Fox, who is it?"

End Part 1


	2. 1 In, 1 Out

Part 2

Mulder's Apartment  
Same Night

'How could I have missed this?' Mulder thought as he paced around his apartment. 'I'm an FBI agent. I should have figured this out. All I had to do was find out her last name, trace her phone number, look at her mailbox, anything. I shouldn't have let things get this far.'

While he was thinking these delightfully cheerful thoughts, he couldn't get the look on her face as he bolted, without much explanation, out of his head. Worried confusion, with a little shock mixed in for flavoring, was probably the best way to describe it. When he got home he saw the light blinking on his answering machine and he knew it was from her. He hadn't listened to it yet.

He had to get out for a while. He changed clothes and started running with no particular destination in mind. When he did stop an hour later he found himself in front of the Reflecting Pool. Completely out of breath, he sat down on the nearest bench.

He looked out across the pool, staring so hard his eyes began to water, blurring his vision, but he hadn't really been seeing it anyway.

"You know it won't answer your questions. Well, at least not without a penny first."

Mulder closed his eyes; he couldn't believe she'd found him. "What are you doing here, Dana?"

She sat down next to him, but looked out across the pool instead of at him. "I remembered that you said you liked to come here to think. I took a chance." She paused but then forged ahead. "You left rather quickly."

"I had to think about a few things," he said, hollowly.

Matching his tone, "Any conclusions?"

He took a deep breath before answering, "This isn't going to work."

When he chanced a look her way, instead of the hurt expression he had been dreading, he saw something even more unnerving: nothing. Her entire expression had gone blank and he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"May I ask why?" The chill in her voice was unmistakable.

'What can I tell her? Well I think you're brother is a spy and now I'm worried you might be one too? Yeah, I'm sure that would go over real well.' So instead he decided to go with a watered-down version. "It would be too complicated."

"Because you work with my brother."

It was a statement but he felt compelled to answer it nonetheless. "That's... part of it."

This seemed to infuriate her, but she still kept her cool tone. "Oh really? And the other part would be..." she waved her hand as if reaching out for a reason. He remained silent and she decided it was pointless waiting for an answer he obviously wasn't willing to share. "You know what? It doesn't matter." She got up and left. Each felt a similar pain in the pit of their stomach, which they tried to ignore.

* * *

Dana's Apartment  
1 Month Later

Charlie didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

When he found out that Dana was dating Mulder he was confused and even more so when they broke-up.

At first he had settled on relief because it just seemed that the break-up happened sooner rather than later. It wasn't like their relationship would have lasted. They're so different; they would have driven each other crazy.

But as the weeks went by he started to lean more towards worried.

To the casual observer neither had been fazed. A casual observer would not notice the circles under his sister's eyes that she covered expertly with make-up. Nor would they notice that Mulder seemed to get lost in thought more often and it became increasingly harder to bring him back.

Charlie was not a casual observer.

Then, if he hadn't already been, something happened that forced him completely to the worried side of the spectrum.

Charlie had been sitting on the couch, channel surfing and was highly frustrated with the results. He was almost glad when the doorbell rang and took him away from the act of futility.

His joy was quickly dashed when he saw who it was. Ethan.

* * *

Ethan had never had a particular fascination with doors but, from the way he was staring at the one in front of him, one would think he was obsessed.

2 months. He and Dana had been broken up for 2 months, by far their record in their 3-year relationship.

He'd wanted her to be the one to come back this time. He was tired of apologizing, of being the one to always take the first step.

But she hadn't.

Not that he'd exactly been sitting at home waiting for her call. He'd dated several women, though none were worthy of a 'take two', which suited him perfectly.

So why was he back here?

For the first time in his relationship with Dana, he was scared. He was slowly losing control of the situation and he desperately needed it back.

He needed her back.

But first he needed to get on the other side of the door.

Hesitantly he raised a fist to the door and knocked.

* * *

Ethan was standing in the hallway looking nervous, which was probably not helped by the fact that Charlie was glaring at him, with his best over- protective brother look.

Shifting anxiously on his feet he said in a voice that held more resolve than he actually felt, "I need to talk to Dana."

Charlie didn't say anything, but stepped aside and let him in. After watching him squirm, a little, Charlie directed him to sit on the sofa while he went to get Dana.

"Yeah?" she called out when he knocked on her bedroom door.

He opened the door, finding her sitting cross- legged on her bed, computer perched on her lap. "Hey, sis. You've got a visitor."

A spark of hope crossed her face before she could hide it. "Who?"

"Ethan," even as he said it, he knew that if she hadn't hidden that little bit of hope, it would have disappeared with that one word.

Her tone now somewhat resigned, she asked, "What does he want?" as she went back to typing on her laptop.

"He says he needs to talk to you." She didn't look at all pleased with that prospect so Charlie added, "You want me to kick him out?" He flexed his bicep, "I make a pretty good bouncer."

Dana gave him an indulgent smile before sighing and closing her computer. "No, I'll talk to him."

As she went out to talk to Ethan, Charlie decided to make himself scarce, went into his own room, and acted like he had something to do.

Over the next hour he heard a muffled exchange of words, heated yells, and something that sounded distinctly like pleading. When he heard the front door close, he was only able to wait three minutes before going to check on his sister.

What he saw when he got to the living room shocked him.

Dana was sitting in a chair staring dazedly ahead of her and it looked as if she was trying not to cry. He had to resist the urge to go find Ethan and beat the crap out of him. Instead he kneeled down in front of her and tried to meet her gaze.

"Sis?" he asked as gently as he could, but it barely got a reaction out of her. "What happened?"

She looked up at him, eyes still wide and dazed with shock, and held out what appeared to be a small velvet box.

That, he was not expecting.

End Part 2 


	3. Happiness Or Something Like It

  
Part 3

December 21

Dana kept looking at the ring on her left ring finger. Getting married was always something she assumed she would do at some point, but she had also assumed that she'd be madly in love with the groom.

It's not that she wasn't fond of Ethan. She had spent three years with him, off and on as it was. She knew that she could spend the rest of her life with him and be fairly happy.

But she would never be madly in love with him.

She had tried to bring it up with him before she had accepted his proposal, but he kept saying that he didn't care what her concern was, that they would work whatever it was out.

She hadn't told him about Mulder, yet, either.

She hadn't talked to anyone about him, now that she thought about it. Not since they broke up. It took a lot out of her to not ask Charlie every day, when he came back from work, how Mulder was doing. If, just to find out that he was feeling as miserable as she was. She was almost relieved when Charlie had found his own apartment.

Dana walked into her apartment building and was on her way up the stairs when her cell phone rang from the depths of her briefcase. She performed a juggling act that she would have bowed for if anyone had been around her, and pulled out her phone before it could switch over to her answering service.

"Scully."

"Hey Dana. I know I told you that you could go home but we just got a dead body and the Feds are insisting that an autopsy be done tonight. Unfortunately you were the only one, outside of Quantico, that was available."

Sighing, more out of frustration that this didn't bother her more than it did, she said. "Okay, I'll be right there." She hung up, staring at her front door in resignation. Dana let out an exhausted breath and headed right back out to her car.

* * *

"Why didn't you just get the body transferred to Quantico?" Charlie asked as he and Mulder walked down the corridor towards the morgue.

"All of the pathologists are working on that mass murder case but the cops assured me that this one's one of the best."

Charlie didn't like this at all. In all likelihood Dana was the pathologist assigned to this case. She was one of two that the hospital had, but the other was inadequate at best. "Uh Mulder before..." but it was too late, Mulder had already walked through the door.

"Have you started the..." Mulder began to ask but stopped short when the woman standing beside the exam table, which housed the body, looked up.

They both just looked at one another, each secretly drinking in the sight of the other. The air around them crinkled with energy. Charlie shifted uncomfortably, trying to decide whether or not to bolt and give them space.

Dana was the first to make a move. "Agent Mulder," she said with a slight nod of her head, her face giving nothing away.

Mulder took his cue from her and nodded back in response, "Doctor Scully."

Charlie looked back and forth between his sister and his partner and decided he had to do something quickly. So he nodded at his sister and said, "Doctor Scully," in the most serious voice he could muster.

It had the desired effect, his sister couldn't quite hold back a small grin as she replied, "Agent Scully," and the tension was diminished.

Charlie clapped his hands together. "Good, now that we're all reacquainted, let's get this show on the road."

* * *

A Couple Hours Later

Snapping off the bloody latex gloves, Dana nodded at the tech, signaling that she was done and that he could wrap the body up. She slowly began to move toward the employee locker room but before she even got halfway there her brother's voice stopped her. She had made him and Mulder go wait in the hallway while she performed the autopsy. "Hey, sis! Aren't you goin' to tell us what you found?"

"I'm going to go change out of these scrubs first." Her words were simple but her eyes pleaded with him to give her a minute.

"Sure, sis," and with a nod of sympathy, backed out the door.

She was in the locker room mere seconds before her eyes slid shut from mental exhaustion. Forcing her knees to bend, she slumped down onto the bench positioned in the center of the two rows of lockers.

'How did I let one person get this much control over me?' she mentally berated herself, though it was soon followed by, 'Just get in there and get it over with.'

After changing out of her scrubs, though she may have gone about it a bit slower than normal, she went out and found them sitting patiently, kind of, in the hallway.

When she got there Mulder was looking everywhere but at her face, afraid of what he would find there, but in doing so his eyes landed on her left hand. He just stared at it for a few minutes, its sparkle seemed to be taunting him. He had barely heard a word that Dana had said since she had come out of the autopsy bay.

Charlie was the first to notice Mulder's distraction since Dana was avoiding eye contact with him as well. He followed his line of vision to what had grabbed his attention.

Eventually, Dana too noticed Mulder staring at her left hand. An involuntary ache tightened within her chest as she slowly moved it out of his field of vision.

The movement caused Mulder to be flung back into reality. "Uh," he said before clearing his throat. "I guess congratulations are in order." He, finally, looked into her eyes and thought he saw them mist over, but wasn't sure because they were back to normal in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you. I'm very happy about it," she said, almost defiantly. "However, I'm sure you would like to know the results of the autopsy that needed to be done tonight. So if you don't mind," she said with a wave of the chart for emphasis, intent on steering clear of another potential mine field.

"Please do continue, Doc," Mulder said, the tone of his voice flat, laced with hurt and sarcasm.

Sighing in slight frustration, she continued on describing her findings, all of which pointed to natural causes. When she'd finished, there was an awkward pause before they thanked her and started to walk away.

As they were about to leave Charlie said, "Hey Mulder, why don't you go on ahead and I'll catch up with you in a second. I need to talk to my sister for a minute." Mulder simply nodded and, after he had left, Charlie turned back to Dana. "Sis, what are you doing?" He bent slightly to look her in the eyes, trying to glean some understanding.

"What are you talking about?" She crossed her arms, as if to protect herself from an unseen force she was not ready to confront.

He sighed in frustration at her evasiveness. "This whole thing! Why are you marrying Ethan? I've kept quiet throughout this entire episode, but I'm not stupid Dana. I know you're in love with Mulder."

"Charlie, I only dated Mulder for a few weeks." Her protest sounded empty to both of them.

"I know that, but it doesn't change anything."

"We broke-up. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong." She whispered harshly.

He tried again. "Even if you're making a mistake?" Charlie asked incredulously, though his voice was softened by his obvious concern.

"Yes!" Realizing she was coming dangerously close to yelling, she softened her voice minutely. "If I'm making a mistake, it's my mistake."

"I don't know if I can do that," he informed her, shaking his head, eyes saddened.

To his surprise, Dana just sighed, ran her fingers through her hair and said, "I know, but please try. We both need to move on." She gave him a tight hug. "I'll see you on Sunday, ok?"

"Sunday?" he asked dumfounded.

She gave him a 'big sister' look. "Dinner, my house, Mom and Dad are coming over, night after Christmas... any of this ringing a bell?"

"Oh damn, I forgot. Yeah I'll be there." He began to walk away but called over his shoulder. "Make sure you take your tree down by the time they get over there. You know how much dad hates that."

She laughed but called back, "Nah, I'll leave it up for a while. If he's bugging me about the tree, he won't have time for 'FBI talk'."

Turning so that he was now walking backwards, he clutched at his heart. "Ah, always looking out for me. I'm touched." With a final wave and a, "Well I better go before my partner freezes in the car," he left.

Once outside, Charlie ran to the car trying not to slip on the icy pavement. He was barely in the car before Mulder started up the engine, driving as quickly as was safe, well almost, out of the parking lot.

Charlie tried to figure out how to broach the subject but finally just decided on the direct approach. "So are you going to admit that you're in love with my sister or are you going to let her get married to Ethan?" he offhandedly inquired as his seatbelt was quickly clicked in place.

Mulder's head snapped in Charlie's direction at the quick change in topic. Unfortunately the wheel went in the same direction, causing the car to swerve slightly. Cursing, he righted it before saying, "Excuse me?"

Apparently Mulder had gone for the 'in denial' route as well; these two were going to be the death of him. "Whatever man. You don't have to admit it to me, but-"

"You're right I don't," Mulder interrupted. "Why do you care anyway?" Mulder threw out at Charlie, a hint of sadness edging his words. "She's happy."

Charlie snorted, "Some hotshot profiler you are. She's not happy." Briefly he paused, not completely comfortable with this conversation, but then forged ahead. "Why'd you break it off anyway? Was it really just because she's my sister?"

Mulder pulled up in front of his apartment building and, without answering the question, told him, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Charlie stared at him for a moment, noticing the clinched jaw and white-knuckle hold Mulder had on the steering wheel, before curtly nodding at his obvious dismissal. Without another word he climbed out of the car and into the cold night air. He cringed at the sound and smell of burning rubber as Mulder pealed away from the curb. With a flustered breath, he trudged up the stairs and into the silence of his apartment.

End Part 3


	4. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Part 4

Mulder's Apartment

Mulder was so glad that Christmas was over. He didn't know how many more times he could watch 'It's a Wonderful Life'. He had called both of his parents for his perfunctory 'You still alive? Yeah me too. Great, talk to you in 365 days. Merry Christmas.' call. The guys had invited him over, but he wasn't really in the mood to find out why Santa was a pawn for the Government; he could probably guess anyway. So he sat at home doing his post-Christmas, pre-New Year thinking, but no matter how hard he tried, his thoughts just kept going back to one thing.

He knew he'd screwed up badly with Dana, but the worse part was that the reason he'd had for doing so no longer existed. Scully had proven that he was trustworthy, not long into their partnership, especially after that whole artic worm incident.

That was his only reason, wasn't it?

He couldn't really answer that. His psych training wanted to but his sense of self-preservation demanded silence.

His computer chose that moment to squawk at him, signaling that he did indeed have mail. Dragging himself off his couch and, after pausing the movie that he hadn't really been watching, he double clicked the inbox icon. There was one new email, an untitled message from the Gunmen.

'Oh my God. No. Dana.' Mulder groaned as the ache in his chest increased.

* * *

Dana stood outside Mulder's apartment trying to decide whether to knock or not. 'I've got to ask him,' she kept telling herself over and over again. Steeling herself, she knocked just below the gold numbers on the door.

She heard a scuffling but didn't have to wait long before the door swung open.

The look of surprise on his face was almost enough to make her want to bolt. "Dana? What are you... I mean I just heard..." He sighed and started over. "I just heard about your father. I'm sorry."

She nodded slowly, not wanting to know how he knew already, and, fighting back tears that she wouldn't let him see, asked, "Can I come in?"

He let her by and followed her into the living room. "So... what brings you to my humble abode?"

Without turning to look him in the eyes she asked, "Do you know anything about... ghosts?"

Of all the questions he had expected her to ask, this one was very far down on the list. They both sat down on his couch before he said, "A little. Why?"

"You know what, this was a bad idea," she said as she leapt up and headed toward the door, but when she got there she didn't open it, seeming to collapse under some invisible weight. Leaning forward for support, her head landed on the door, lightly resting against it.

Once he saw her shoulders begin to shake with repressed tears he couldn't stay still anymore. He walked over and gathered her up in his arms. "I saw him. He was trying to tell me something," she sobbed into his chest. "But it couldn't have been him. It doesn't make any sense, ghosts aren't real."

During her tearful confession he led her back to the couch without letting go. Then he just held her until her sobs turned to sniffles and hiccups.

Once she had gained her composure she pulled away and he let her go. "I'm sorry," she apologized softly. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

"It's just my animal magnetism, you couldn't stay away," he teased, nudging her with his shoulder. It got a small smile out of her. Having achieved his goal he turned serious. "I am sorry about your father."

"Thank you." She surprised both of them by leaning against him and laying her head on his shoulder. His arm involuntarily wrapped around her and pulled her closer. Their eyes locked and their lips began to move together, as if both containing magnets. The kiss was tentative as they relearned each other's mouths.

It was a short kiss, but it left both of them breathless. When he reached out to take her hand, his palm brushed against the cold metal of her engagement ring and reality once again reigned.

"Dana..." But he couldn't tell her that it was a mistake and he definitely couldn't promise that it wouldn't happen again.

"I know, I know. You don't want this. I'm sorry," she said, mistaking his pause. She moved to pull away but he wouldn't let her.

"Dana, you're engaged. Not to mention going through a traumatic ordeal. It wouldn't be fair to you if we started anything right now."

She looked at him for a moment before unceremoniously taking off her engagement ring and plopping it down on the coffee table. "First of all, I had already decided to break it off with Ethan. For several reasons, most of which are between the two of us, but mostly... because it wouldn't be fair. Not to either of us.

"Second of all, what do you mean if we 'start' anything? I'm not the one who decided to end it. And third of all... I don't even have a third of all." Or at least that's what she would have said but the words had come out mumbled when Mulder closed his mouth over hers.

* * *

The first thing Dana noticed when she woke up was that the room was in desperate need of blinds because the sun was glaring in her eyes. No matter how tightly she closed them there was still a red glare behind her eyelids that was making her increasingly aware that she was awake.

The second thing she noticed was the warm weight of an arm draped across her stomach, holding her securely from falling off the couch. She didn't want to move, but her eyes strayed open and landed on the VCR. When the time made it through her sleep addled brain she sat bolt upright.

Grabbing the first piece of clothing she could find, a New York Knicks t-shirt, she threw it on, quickly gathering her things, and ran to the bathroom. She briefly looked in the mirror, before quickly changed, and then pulled out a brush and some make-up from her purse.

"Kind of early to be running around like a mad woman, isn't it?" an amused voice commented from behind her.

She glared at his reflection in the mirror, though she couldn't help but glance approvingly over his boxer-clad body, but didn't stop getting ready. "I'm already late. I don't have time to run home and change."

He looked at her as if she had grown another head. "You're going to work?"

"I need to work," she stated simply and started changing. "The funeral is at noon," she offered nonchalantly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. He stepped up behind her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and across her chest, the other around her middle, his hand resting on her hip.

At first she considered giving him a taste of his own medicine by teasingly saying something like 'you already did', but his serious tone changed her mind. So instead she whispered, "Yes," she turned around in his arms, his hands slipping to rest on her hips, and tilted her head up to look him in the eyes, "but you can't." At his questioning look she continued. "I can't show up at the funeral with you if my family thinks I'm still engaged to Ethan."

He hid a wince at the 'e word'; they were going to have to talk about that later. "I could just come as a friend."

"Even if you could get it past my mom, which is a very big if, Charlie would never buy it."

Mulder sighed and tried one last stab at it. "I could show up as Scully's partner."

She couldn't quite hold back a laugh at that. "Right. The partner he's never done anything outside of work with, just happens to show up at our Father's funeral. Makes sense to me. I don't think anyone would be suspicious," she finished with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"You think it would be too obvious that I'm using him to get to his sister?" he asked with a suggestive leer.

Feigning ignorance she asked innocently, "You've met Missy?"

"Why do I get the feeling you have one of those families that need to wear ID tags at family reunions?"

* * *

Charlie walked into the basement office and found Mulder engrossed in a file. "Play Pen a little early this month?"

"You've become far too interested in my magazine subscription," He joked back, though continuing to peruse the casefile. "There are some things that shouldn't be shared, even between partners." Snapping the file shut he finally directed his attention to Charlie. "What are you doing here, Scully? You shouldn't have come in today. I would have handled everything." He paused to see if Charlie would respond but he didn't. "How are you holding up?"

"My father just died, how would you be?" he asked bitterly but looked sorry almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. In a conciliatory tone, he offered, "What's the case?"

Not really bothered by Charlie's short temper, given the circumstances, he accepted the apology. "Two days ago, a couple was kidnapped at Jackson University. Elizabeth Hawley and James Summers, both 19." Mulder handed him a picture of the two. "Last year, another couple was kidnapped to the day, except that abduction occurred at Duke. One week later, they found both students' bodies dead."

"They never found who did it?"

"No, the police thought he'd be a one-time offender. If he keeps with his pattern we only have 5 days to find them."

"That's not a lot of time," Charlie noted grimly.

"Well here's someone else who doesn't have a lot of time." He handed Charlie another folder. "Luther Lee Boggs is scheduled for execution in one week."

"And what does he have to do with this case?"

Mulder couldn't quite hold back a snort of humorless laughter. "He claims to have information related to the case, which he obtained through psychic transmission."

Charlie had never heard Mulder use a skeptical tone before and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, so he ignored it. "And that's why we're being called in?"

"That, and Boggs read my profile on him. He thinks we have a 'connection'."

* * *

Two Days Later

"So you broke it off with Ethan?" Melissa asked through the phone, sounding very impressed. "I thought you'd never get out of that one..." Her voice trailed off and Dana could have sworn she heard the click as she made the connection, "Oh my God, who's the other guy?"

"I never said that there was another guy," Dana offered, not quite ready to give her sister the whole, involved story yet.

"You didn't have to," Melissa replied, in an almost giddy voice. "You're happy and no one is this happy after splitting up with someone if they're not involved with someone else. So, is he cute?"

Resigning herself to the inevitable, she answered, "Yes, very." She was about to get into more detail when her cell phone rang. "Hang on Missy, I have to answer that." Setting down the phone she answered her cell, "Scully."

"Dana, it's Charlie. You have to get down to Raleigh right away."

Charlie's tightly controlled voice sent every nerve in her body on alert. "Hold on a minute, Charlie." She picked up her home phone and, with a shaky voice, told her sister she had to go, ignoring Melissa's concerned queries as she hung up. "Charlie? It's Mulder, isn't it?" Before he could confirm her suspicions, she was demanding any information he could give her. After telling him that she was on her way she closed her cell with trembling hands.

Taking a deep breath, Dana said a prayer as she quickly and efficiently grabbed what she needed and headed out the door.

End Part 4


	5. Cold, Dark Place

Part 5

When Dana arrived at the hospital she went to the desk and tried everything to get them to tell her where Mulder was, but because she wasn't listed as his next of kin they wouldn't even give her the time of day. So, after delivering a withering stare, she went in search of her brother, hoping that he would be able to tell her something.

She found him not ten minutes later pacing a hole in the floor, while on the phone. "No, sir, there hasn't been any word yet since he was moved from recovery. Although, they did say the surgery went well. I've already contacted his mother and she's on her way down. Yes, sir, I'm almost positive Boggs was behind all this. There's substantial suspicion that Luther Lee Boggs' last five murders were committed with a partner. The police up in Durham would be willing to stake several pensions on that partner being Lucas Henry, though they could never prove it in court. Okay I understand. I'll keep you posted on his condition." After hanging up he turned and was surprised to see Dana standing there. "Dana? Why didn't you call me when you got in?"

"I didn't want you to leave Mulder alone," she said, ignoring the conversation she had just heard for the moment. "Can you get me into see him?"

Charlie didn't say anything; just put his arm around her shoulder and led her back towards the receptionist. After a couple minutes of explanations, combined with some half-truths, Dana was allowed into Mulder's room.

Despite working in a hospital everyday, Dana was unprepared for seeing someone she cared about lying unconscious in a hospital bed. As she looked at him, she silently had a talk with a God she had hardly acknowledged in years. 'Why? Why now? Are you trying to make me crack? It's too soon,' she thought as she hid the single tear that trickled down her cheek from her brother. 'I can't lose both my father and Mulder.'

Charlie stood in a corner of the room, trying to give her some space to take in and process the situation, but close enough in case she needed him.

"How did you know?"

After the long stretch of silence, her question caught him off guard, startling a, "know what?" from him, taking a step closer.

"To call me," she stated in a low whisper, like she was trying not to disturb anything in the room, including the silence. "I never told you..."

Charlie nodded at Mulder and said, "He let it slip on the plane." After a brief pause he continued. "The whole time before we boarded the plane he seemed antsy, like he was having this internal battle. Eventually he told me what was bothering him." He looked up and held her gaze for the first time since she had asked her question. "He wanted to know how you'd held up at the funeral. I grilled him first about why he thought he had the right to know, typical brother stuff really, and he told me you guys were on... speaking terms, I believe is the term he used. So, I told him but he looked more worried. He's very paranoid, you know?"

"I'd have to be pretty thick not to know that," her voice a mixture of affection and sadness.

Charlie chose to ignore her comment. "Well, apparently that paranoia includes you now. He doesn't want anyone else taking care of you." He held up a hand to stay the response he knew was coming. "Yeah, yeah, I know you don't need to be taken care of. Don't give him too hard a time about it."

She opened her mouth to deny that she would but decided against it, she knew that if it were anyone else, any other man, she would take offense to the thought of them 'protecting' her. She wasn't sure what to make of this new reaction. So, instead she concentrated on the unconscious man in front of her.

Reaching out she gently stroked the loose pieces of hair that had fallen across his forehead, while, almost by reflex, double-checking the doctors' work.

Charlie silently watched her study Mulder for a minute before slipping quietly out of the room. Silent anger had begun to twist in his gut. This wasn't right, neither of them deserved this.

Dana looked up when she heard the door close. In the whirlwind of trying to get there, and making sure Mulder was okay she had forgotten to check that Charlie was okay too. This couldn't be easy for him either, especially after his last partner. He had barely made it through that, and he might not have if not for Stacey.

It had been a hellish couple of days and she was nearly overcome with exhaustion, but as her eyes began to droop, she heard yelling in the hall that could have woke the dead.

"She is not talking to him! You go back there and you tell him that there is no way he's getting that deal!" She had never heard her brother yell like that, save a select few times when they were growing up. The pure rage contained in those simple words was enough to stop anyone in their tracks out of fear that it would be directed at them next if they made any sudden moves.

"Sir," a terrified voice pleaded, "there's no other way. We have to give Boggs something or else we'll lose that boy."

"He can have anything else, but Dana is not going anywhere near that filth! How does he even know about her?"

"We don't know but he wants to speak with her, and won't talk to anyone else," the voice said meekly.

"Sirs, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down or leave. This is a hospital and you are disturbing the patients." There was a mumbled reply, then both men walked into the room.

"You better not have come in here to yell because you'll regret it immediately," Dana warned.

Looking somewhat abashed, Charlie said, "I take it you heard all that."

"People in all fifty states heard all that. So when do I have to talk to this guy?"

"Dana-"

"Charlie, I appreciate your concern, and understand them. Believe me this is the last thing I want to do," she glanced at Mulder for a moment but turned back to her brother almost immediately, "but I'm doing this."

* * *

Boggs' Cell

"I wasn't sure you would come."

Luther Lee Boggs looked, for all intents and purposes, like the exact type of 'creepy' you would expect to find on death row. Everything about him, from his countenance to his posture, crept her out, though she'd be damned if she'd let him know that. "Well you got me here. What do you want?"

"I want your help."

Dana could not help the gasp of disbelief. "And why would I help you?" She paused but not long enough to let him speak. "You set my brother and Mulder up. And now, because of you and your buddy Lucas Henry, Mulder's in a hospital! So please excuse me," she realized that she was yelling now but didn't care, "if the only way I'm inclined to help you at the moment is, four days from now, finding a way to be the one that will throw the switch and gas you out of this life for good, you son of a bitch!"

Turning away from him she took a deep breath, determined to get herself under control.

He, however, was not okay with her attention being directed elsewhere, and called out to her, "Dana..." but when she turned back it wasn't him she was looking at, it was Mulder.

"You're who'll believe me."

Closing her eyes to block out the sight in front of her she sobbed out, "no," as much to herself as to him.

When she looked again Boggs was himself again. "How did you do that?"

He said nothing for a moment, just looked at her. "You know how," he said finally. "The same way you were able to see your father after he died." Boggs ignored her sharp intake of breath and continued. "The dead. The living. All souls are connected."

She shook her head. "I don't believe you."

He smiled slightly, it was the first time since she'd been there that his expression had really changed, he looked more frightening than before. "Yes you do."

She began to deny it again but his expression turned compassionate, fatherly. He almost looked... "Starbuck?"

Dana's blood ran cold.

"Did you get my message?"

Still looking terrified she asked, "What did you call me?"

"It's me, Starbuck. I need to tell you-" He never finished his sentence. Anger filled Boggs' face as it reddened with the exertion of his inner struggle.

"No, no, no!" Boggs' eyes watering from the strain of holding back the voices. "Nobody talks to anybody until I get a deal! I know my hell's going to be to go on back to that chair over and over again, but in this life, my one and only life, I don't ever want to go back again! Ever! Death is a cold, dark place, Dana. Mulder's looking in on it right now and that's where your dear old dad is."

She couldn't believe the nerve of this bastard. The thought that he belonged anywhere her father and Mulder belonged was the most absurd idea she had ever heard, so she simply shook her head defiantly and stared him down, her voice cold and deadly. "It may be a cold dark place for you but it's not for Mulder, and it's not for my father."

Her denial of his statement didn't seem to faze him at all "I'm sure he'd like to tell you hisself but I'm not going to let him. Nobody speaks until you get me a deal."

"I don't believe you," she stated again.

This also didn't seem to have much effect on Boggs. "Oh well, there's plenty of room in that cold, dark place for liars, Dana. You go ahead and play it like you need to, but I know you believe me. But if you need to convince a judge I'm in on it with Lucas, go ahead. 'Cause either way, whether I'm running the show with Lucas or I'm channeling, no information's coming until I get a deal," he finished with an exhausted breath, slumping against the concrete wall.

They stared each other down for a moment longer before Dana turned away in disgust.

"Guard!" she called out and, without another word, she left. When she got to where Charlie and a couple of other officers were standing she said, "Why did he need to talk to me? He could have delivered that load of B.S. to anyone!"

The agents looked at each other in confusion, but it was the officer who had argued with Charlie at the hospital who answered. "He said he had a message for you and wouldn't talk to anyone else. He didn't tell you anything?"

"Oh he told me plenty." She gave them a brief outline of their conversation, leaving out any personalities that did not belong to either of them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the hospital." Dana left as quickly and safely as she could with only one goal in mind: to get back to Mulder.

* * *

It was close to midnight by the time Dana snuck back into the hospital. After what had just happened she didn't want to go to some motel and stare at the phone hoping that it wouldn't ring.

"Mom, I told you to go to the hotel and get some sleep." As he said this, Mulder didn't bother to turn around to see who was actually in the room. His voice, dry and raspy as it was, was possibly the most welcome sound Dana had ever heard in her life.

There was only one way to greet him, she decided. "You bastard," she murmured. The way he practically jumped out of his skin was almost comical. "Don't you ever do that to me again." Before he could answer, and with very little warning, she pulled him into a kiss that was almost harsh in it's intensity. When they broke for air she asked "Promise?"

Mulder didn't answer right away but twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. "You know I can't promise that."

She sighed heavily before resting her head on his shoulder, replied, "I know."

He pulled away from her slightly and lifted her face, to examine her expression. He must have seen something there that worried him because he asked, "What happened?"

His gentle question was all the encouragement she needed and pretty soon the whole story, from Charlie's phone call to coming back to the hospital to find him awake, came pouring out.

"Dana," Mulder started, his voice hadn't lost any of the worry that it had adopted from the beginning of her tale. "Boggs can be a very good actor... I don't want you to take anything he said as-"

She shushed him slightly. "I know. He had me going for a few minutes but by the end..."

Neither really believed her, but both let it pass.

"Okay."

* * *

Hospital  
Next Day

The sight that met Charlie's eyes when he returned to the hospital was much different from when he had left. Mulder was sitting up in his bed talking softly with Dana, as she perched on the side of the bed. They looked so at ease, that the machines he was still hooked up to were the only indication that anything had ever been wrong. However when they noticed his arrival it was business as usual.

Charlie updated Mulder on the facts of the case that he had missed out on, and Mulder told him that whatever he did he couldn't make a deal. After a few minutes he left, already knowing that he wouldn't be able to heed Mulder's advice about not making a deal. There was just no other way.

* * *

"So how was your visit with your mother?" Dana asked, picking up the conversation they had been having before Charlie had arrived.

"Nice actually. We had one of the best conversations we've had in a couple years. But you know, you didn't have to leave." His voice still held the scratchy drowsy sound that came with the painkillers he was on, and she couldn't help the smile that formed on her face.

"Yeah right. I needed a break from that hospital chair anyway," she joked and carefully poked him. "There's only so much sitting a girl can do."

"I'm more than willing to share the bed if the chair is not to your liking."

"Shut up."

Mulder pouted but said in a faux hurt tone, "Yes dear."

End Part 5


	6. Cabin Fever

Part 6

Dana's Apartment

Dana hadn't seen Mulder for a couple weeks when he showed up on her doorstep, and though there was no other sign of panic, the frantic look in his eyes told her that this was not going to be a social visit.

As soon as she opened the door he asked, "Are you alright?"

"Of course I am," she said, not knowing whether to be worried or annoyed at the abrupt greeting. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Nothing weird has happened lately?" Mulder cautiously demanded as his eyes darted around the room, his hands shaking as they gently grasped her arms.

"Mulder," she began, trying to calm him down, "the weirdest thing that has happened to me today was my answering machine acting up."

Instead of being comforted however, this seemed to set him more on edge. "What happened with your machine?" he asked sharply, releasing her and walking quickly to the offending piece of technology.

"Nothing, it just started to play my messages like someone was accessing it remotely. I'll get a new one tomorrow; there wasn't anything too pertinent on it anyway."

"Can you tell me exactly what they were?"

She didn't know why this was worrying him so much but was not going to deny him the information, especially if it got him to once again allow oxygen into his lungs. "Just one from my mother calling for no reason, and my friend reminding me about her recital. Mulder what's going on?"

"Barnett," he breathlessly replied and then turned back to stare out the window.

"Huh?"

* * *

Mulder's Apartment

It was over. Barnett was dead; everyone was safe, he should be happy.

He wasn't.

Not when he had to face Ginny at Reggie's funeral in the morning. No matter how he tried to convince himself it wasn't his fault, he remembered that Reggie was dead and Dana had almost been killed, because of him. He shuddered at the images that flowed through his mind whenever he considered that the Kevlar vest could have easily failed.

It was these thoughts that made him so intent on isolating himself, so when the phone rang he considered not answering it, but he knew who it probably was and that she would not stand for being ignored. "Mulder," he grumbled into the phone.

"Hey Mulder, it's me."

"Hey, what's up? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Dana's laugh of disbelief almost brought a smile to his face. "You weren't even close to being on your way to dreamland, and we both know it." She gave him a second to argue, but he didn't even bother to deny it. "Anyway, I forgot to ask when you're picking me up tomorrow."

Okay, now he was confused. "Picking you up?"

"For the funeral," she stated as if it was obvious, and allowed no room for argument. He tried anyway.

"Dana, I don't need a babysitter."

"Well that's good, because you're not getting one."

A small chuckle escaped and a smile of relief and tenderness graced his lips as he confirmed a time for when he would be arriving at her apartment the next day.

* * *

The memorial service was being held at, what was now only, Reggie's wife's house, and the amount of people stopping by were double that of who had shown up for the funeral. So suffice it to say, parking in the area had become as backed up as the line for the DMV, costing them a good 15 minutes of circling to find a parking space. The entire time was spent in silence, since neither knew quite how to handle the situation.

'This shouldn't be so hard. We just got through my father's death together, why is this so different? Maybe it was just too much too close together? Or maybe it was just some macho trip he was going through where he didn't want to be taken care of?' As all these scenarios were running through her head she didn't notice that her eyes had stayed fixedly on him.

But he did.

He saw the concern in her face. He saw the want in her eyes to just make the pain go away. And he wished he could give her that.

* * *

When they got to the house, Ginny, the one person he wanted to avoid facing right away, was the one to answer the door. Whatever reaction he had been expecting, the tight, motherly hug he received was not it.

"Hi, hon. I'm so glad you could make it. I think Reggie would have come back to haunt you if you'd skipped his funeral." With a light sock to his arm she let him go and stepped back to look at him. "Shit, you look horrible. You need to go in the kitchen and get something to eat."

Stunned by this reception he merely nodded and, after reaching back for Dana's hand, began to walk toward the kitchen. But he was once again stopped by Ginny. "And who's this?"

"Oh! Sorry. Ginny this is Dana."

Both women shook hands and smiled at one another, though both were very formal smiles as they sized each other up. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

At some point during the day Dana realized that she had to call her mom to see if everything was going as planned, and so she made an excuse to Mulder, who had been stopped by a bunch of Reggie's friends to swap stories.

She walked into the kitchen first to see if it was empty enough to make her phone call. At first she didn't see anyone, but a hiccupping sob keyed her into the other person in the room. Her first instinct was to go in and try and be of some comfort, but then she realized that comfort from a complete stranger was probably not what Ginny needed. So she closed the door softly so she wouldn't be noticed and went and got the only other person that she knew for a fact was grieving and would be of some comfort.

* * *

When Dana came back she asked Mulder to go and get her a soda. He thought this was slightly weird since she'd just come from the general direction of the kitchen but he was ready for any excuse that would get him out of that living room.

He walked into the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator and grabbed two Diet Cokes. He was about to leave when he heard muffled sobbing from the far side of the kitchen. He turned and saw Ginny desperately trying to stop her tears and rotating her head to try and hide the fact she was crying. He stood there glued to his spot for what seemed like an eternity, but then his brain taught his legs how to work again. He set the drinks on the counter, walked over to her and just hugged her, not saying a word just being there, and the tears she had been trying to hold back came pouring out. Her whole body was wracked with her grief, but Mulder held her through all of it, held the woman that had been his mother almost the whole time throughout his stay in VCU as they grieved the man who had been his father during the same period.

* * *

After Ginny stopped crying she was emotionally and physically exhausted, so she went and collapsed into bed.

The party had pretty much dispersed, save for a few stragglers, and Mulder made an excuse for her and kicked them out. As he was showing everyone out he noticed Dana sitting on the porch swing talking on her cell phone.

"Yeah, mom. We'll be there in about half an hour. Uh huh. Okay. I love you too. Bye." She hung up just as Mulder sat down next to her. He handed her a soda and they simply sat there for a while, swinging slightly.

"You set me up," he was stating a fact, but had a slightly accusing edge to his voice.

"I suppose you could look at it that way. Did you talk at all?" she asked quietly, glancing up at him.

"Not really," he replied, shrugging slightly and staring out across the front yard.

Dana nodded and held out her hand. "Let's get out of here." They silently walked back to their car. Mulder looked up at the house once more, sighed and climbed into the passenger seat and didn't look back as they drove away.

* * *

Dana pulled up in front of her mom's house, and after telling Mulder to wait in the car for her, she ran up the steps. Her mother smiled as she opened the door. They talked for a short while and then Mrs. Scully handed her a set of keys and hugged her goodbye. She returned to the car and headed towards the highway.

"What's going on?"

"I had to pick up the keys to my grandmother's cabin from my mom," she stated evasively, but the fact that she was having trouble meeting his eyes was slightly suspicious.

"Uh huh. And why, pray tell, did you need to do that?"

"Well, we're going to want to be able to get inside the cabin once we get there. I mean it is a rather long drive and I don't particularly want to get up there and wait for you to pick the lock."

"When were planning on telling me this?" A raised eyebrow accompanied the question, as he unconsciously mimicked her.

"Now?" His look said that that wasn't going to fly, so she continued. "Look you need to get out of your head for a little bit. Get away from everything. I'm just giving you the option."

"This doesn't seem like much of an option," he noticed. "I mean you already have the keys, you're driving. Where exactly is the choice?" He asked, an incredulous tinge coloring his words.

She didn't answer, but signaled so that she could take the next exit on the highway and pulled into a Burger King driveway, putting the car in park, but leaving the engine running. "Okay, you're right," her tone was placating. "I wasn't being fair. Do you not want to go?"

He silently weighed his options. "Dana, it's not like I can just pick up and leave. I'd have to file for leave."

"I already had Charlie do that for you and he's agreed to feed your fish."

"I'd have to pack a bag."

"It's in the trunk."

"Is there anything you haven't thought of?" he wondered aloud.

She grinned at him. "I don't know. Do you want to keep listing things so I can check?" She paused momentarily, to give him time to do just that. When he didn't she continued. "So are we going to Vermont or what?"

"Yeah, I guess we are," he replied almost reluctantly. 'She isn't going to make this easy is she?' he silently asked himself.

* * *

The cabin looked like it had been taken right out of a magazine cover. It was complete with a flower garden in front, that would almost look natural if it wasn't so contained, and birds that occasionally flew overhead. It was possibly the most peaceful place in the world.

If there were anything truly opposite of their everyday lives, this would be it.

"You going to stand there staring all day, or do you actually plan on coming inside," Dana's amused voice called from the front door that she had just opened. "It's kind of cold out here don't you think?"

Mulder didn't comment, but he hefted his bag up onto his shoulder and followed her inside.

The inside wasn't any less perfect than the outside. It was nicely decorated but not in such a way that you were afraid to move and disturb anything.

He followed Dana into a room that shot off from the living room, which looked to be the only bedroom. She set her bag down and motioned for him to do the same. "You hungry? We need to go into town and pick up some food, but I have some snacks in the car."

"Not really, but I think I'm up to a trip to the grocery store. How far is the nearest town?"

"Couple miles," she shrugged but her eyes were drooping.

He tried to hide his smile at the fact that she was almost dead on her feet. "I can go by myself. You've been driving all day, you must be exhausted." He reached up and tenderly drew a finger across her jaw.

She was about to protest but a yawn cut her off. "Okay, let me get you a map so you can find your way."

Ten minutes later he was back in the car on the way into town.

* * *

Dana hadn't expected him to relax as soon as he did, especially after his reaction to the cabin when they first got there, and was worried it was a front. He was such a hard person to read in general, but when there was something he didn't want you to know it was next to impossible.

She was getting better at it though. She was starting to notice those flashes of pain or sadness that would pass through his eyes before he hid them. It was hard because he seemed to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but she was fairly certain that was a cover too.

The last straw was when she walked into the living room to see him staring straight ahead with an almost pained expression on his face, and as soon as he noticed her there, he made some stupid joke and gave her a broad grin then went back to reading his book.

She almost screamed.

She almost cried.

She did neither however. What she did do was walk over to him and sit down in his lap, and begin to toy with the hair at the nap of his neck. "I'm sorry," she said in a slightly muffled voice since her head was buried in his chest.

He looked at her, surprised. "For what?" he asked, setting his book on the end table, then encircling her with his arms.

"This isn't helping at all. I had this juvenile fantasy that I would get you to come up here and eventually wear you down so that you would confess everything you were feeling. And that it would somehow make everything alright." She lifted her head to look in his eyes then, "But you're still miserable. And don't bother to deny it. You are."

"Dana," he said and then paused, trying to find the exact words to say this. "I know you're worried about me and you have no idea how much that means to me but... I'm going to be okay, honestly. I am upset by what happened, but this is hardly the hardest thing I've ever been through, and I got through those times." He smiled at her sadly and continued, "I have a system for these kinds of things."

Her eyes narrowed at this last statement. "So I'm just suppose to back off, is that it? Let you heal your own wounds even though I know I could at least help you get through part of it? In fact, it would probably just be better if I weren't here at all during your grieving periods, right? I wouldn't want to upset the system!" Now she was sitting up straight and speaking through clenched teeth. "Why won't you let me help you?"

He looked at her angrily, but he also seemed somewhat lost. "Why would you want to?"

"Because I..." but whatever she was going to say, she stopped herself short.

"You what?"

She stared him down until angry tears were blurring her vision. "Because..." one tear slid down her cheek, which she hastily wiped away, and stood abruptly. Her voice was now just above a choked whisper as she said, "You asshole. Isn't it obvious? I love you." She then beat a hasty retreat, leaving a stunned Mulder sitting on the couch.

* * *

'I should probably go after her,' he thought for what must have been the millionth time in the past 30 minutes, but this time he actually did move towards the bedroom door, which had been closed since the end of their fight. When he got there though, he couldn't open it. He even went as far as to reach for the doorknob.

'What am I doing?' was his last thought before he opened the door and tentatively walked in. After taking a deep breath he walked over to where she was laying curled up on the bed and perched beside her. "I know you're not asleep," he whispered gently, pushing back a piece of hair that had fallen across her face.

"You have no proof of that," she whispered back.

He smiled slightly, but quickly became serious again. "We going to ignore this?"

"We shouldn't," she said, but she looked like she wanted to do just that as she buried her head further into the pillow.

He decided to start with the easier part of their conversation. "You know I've had my whole life to get like this, I'm not going to change over night."

She rolled onto her back and nodded at this. "Yeah but are you even going to try?"

He considered her question for a moment before deciding that the answer was obvious. "Yeah."

"Just like that?" she asked skeptically.

"Just. Like. That," he said kissing her after every word. "Just, don't expect a miracle."

She rolled her eyes but pulled him into a deep lingering kiss.

When they pulled apart for air they were lying back on the bed. "By the way. I love you too," he whispered in a way that sent a shiver down her spine and then he went about proving it.

End Part 6 


	7. Back in the Big Apple

Part 7

FBI Field Office  
New York, NY

Charlie couldn't believe his misfortune. He had spent months trying to get a transfer out, and when he finally gets shipped off to DC, he was sent back to New York with Mulder to work on a case.

He looked across the room to see Mulder talking animatedly with one of the cops about the Knicks' chances at making the playoffs. Charlie sighed, he had to get out of there, the optimism in the room was way too overwhelming.

"I'm going to go get some coffee," he announced to the room so that anyone who cared would know.

Charlie walked down the street, letting people weave around him if they were that desperate to pass him. One man almost refused to walk around him but chose to at the last moment, mumbling something like, "fucking people need to take their issues off the sidewalk."

He got to the coffee shop on the corner and was about to go in when a pair of hands covered his eyes, and, in a singsong voice, cooed, "Guess who?"

He spun around at the sound of her voice, his mouth hanging open. She took advantage of his stunned silence to continue talking. "What's going on Charlie? I was sure you'd never come back here." She dropped her arms, which had stayed in place when he spun around so that they were effectively encircling his neck, and took a step back. "They get tired of you in DC already?"

"Stacey," was all he managed to get out.

"Ah, so you do remember me. I'm touched." She noticed that his expression hadn't changed much since he had turned around. "Charlie? Are you okay?"

He wanted nothing more than to crush her to him, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't get close again because that would mean having to leave her again, and that was one wound that didn't need to be reopened and rubbed with salt.

"I'm fine, Stacey."

* * *

Mulder couldn't decide if Charlie looked more depressed after he came back or not, his bet was on more. "Hey Scully, didn't you go to get coffee?" he said gesturing toward his empty hands.

"Um, yeah. I just had a tall. I don't need to be anymore wired on this case." He looked through the files littering the conference table. "The ME drop off the autopsy results yet?"

Mulder shook his head, "Nah, I tried to get an update, but all he said was 'when I'm done you'll have it'"

"Nice," Charlie muttered before slumping down in his chair.

"Maybe you should go catch some z's," Mulder offered, starting to get worried that pretty soon he'd have more than just a mopey partner.

Sliding a frustrated hand down his tired face Charlie shook off the suggestion, and mumbled without thinking, "I have to stay here; I promised I'd meet her here."

"What?" Mulder asked, not sure he'd heard correctly.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything." Mulder must have been giving him a dubious look because he sighed and continued. "Fine, I'm meeting up with an ex-girlfriend, ok?"

Mulder leaned back in his chair, taking up a comfortable casual position. "Stacey?"

Charlie wasn't quite sure how to take the fact that he already knew about her. "Dana mentioned her?"

Mulder shook his head and shrugged. "Nope, your mother brought it up during dinner last Friday. Something about how she was glad you were closer to home, but that she couldn't understand how you left her behind. I got the feeling that your family was rather fond of her."

"Yeah, they were," but he refused to make any further comment about it.

They went back to working on the case, neither acknowledging the conversation they'd just had until Stacey showed up about an hour later. She came walking in, though it was almost skipping, and immediately drew Charlie's attention. "Ready to go?" she asked while smiling from ear to ear.

"Uh, yeah," and after tossing a goodbye over his shoulder to Mulder and receiving a comment about curfew and the importance of a designated driver in return, they left.

"Is that your new partner?" Stacey asked as they walked to her car.

"Yeah, and he's probably going to be my brother- in-law."

* * *

Mulder had finished his profile and his twelfth cup of coffee when he decided he needed a break. He dialed a number and waited while it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, babe. Miss me much?"

"Ugh, you have no idea."

"Bad day?" he asked, already knowing the answer, but having to ask to get the details anyway. His suspicions were confirmed when she let out a sarcastic little laugh.

"Yeah, you could say that. Murder investigation. Cops got pissy with me. I hate cops."

It was his turn to laugh this time. "Oh really?" he asked, trying to sound offended.

"You know what I mean."

Deciding to let her off the hook, but only because she sounded absolutely miserable. "Yeah I do."

Silence overtook them for a couple minutes, each more than content just to listen to the other's presence on the line, until Dana broke it by asking in a very worried tone, "Charlie's okay isn't he?"

"Why wouldn't he be?"

She hesitated and then said, "I can't tell you that."

"He's fine, Dana." He thought of Charlie's date and laughed, "More than fine actually, if his date has anything to say about it." Her silence indicated that she obviously wanted clarification, so he continued. "Stacey was dragging him off to dinner last I saw him."

"Really?" she asked in that 'I have something on my brother' voice.

"What's the story with those two, anyway?"

"Actually it's a pretty standard story. They met in college, first class freshman year and quickly became friends. He claims it was love at first sight, though I'm not completely sold on that because he didn't even make a move until three years after they'd graduated and he ran into her in New York."

Mulder had to interrupt at this point. "Seven years? He fell in love with her and waited seven years to make a move? Is he crazy?"

This earned him another laugh. "Yeah, that's what I told him too. He didn't seem to have an answer for that except that it was complicated."

After their conversation was over and they had both hung up, they sat trying to imagine a scenario where they would wait seven years to be together.

* * *

'I am in so much trouble,' Charlie thought as he walked into his motel room after Stacey had dropped him off. Trying to avoid facing the issue, even in his own head, he pretended like he was going to sleep. Of course this didn't last very long, but arguing with himself wasn't going to help either.

So after tossing and turning for a couple hours he decided he needed to call someone.

When she picked up the phone there was no disguising the grogginess in her voice. "Mulder, I thought you were going to get some sleep now."

"Dana, it's me."

"Oh, hi, Charlie. What's up?"

He could tell she was making a novel effort to stay awake, so he decided to get straight to the point. "I'm such an idiot. I went out with Stacey."

She mmm-hmm-ed and said, "I thought you were in love with her."

"I am. That's the problem. She lives in New York. Now that's not quite the distance as when she lived in L.A. but still..."

"Did you ever think of asking her to come back with you to D.C.? I mean you were engaged, she'd probably come with you."

He sighed in frustration; these were all arguments he'd had with himself. "She can't move her uncle easily. You know that."

"He has multiple sclerosis?"

"Yeah, in advanced stages," he sighed sadly, feeling sorry for the old man not for the first time. "She doesn't want to risk moving him without a doctor present, right now."

"How convenient that you're related to one then," she said through a yawn. "You get her to say yes, and I'll fly up there to meet you guys."

Suddenly he really did feel like an idiot. "Oh my god. I love you!"

She yawned again before answering. "Yeah, yeah. I love you too, little brother. Can I go to sleep now?"

"Yeah. I'll call you tomorrow to tell you whether you have to cash in some frequent flyer miles. And, Sis?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. Get some sleep." A light chuckle was the last thing he heard before she hung up.

Charlie rolled over, sighed and closed his eyes with a smile.

* * *

Charlie walked down the hall of the elementary school to the last classroom. He looked into the small window on the door and saw Stacey holding up an open book, and several five year olds staring fixedly at it while she read animatedly.

Charlie waited outside in the silence of the hall, that was occasionally broken by sounds of laughter. Once the bell rang and all the kids had scampered out, he walked into the room. At first he just watched as she stacked chairs on top of the little desks and straightened up some art supplies.

She turned around to put the book she'd been reading to the kindergarteners on the shelf by the door, but stopped short when she saw Charlie there.

A grin spread across her face, "Hi, Charlie." She walked over to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, and as she was about to pull away he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"I've missed you so much," he breathed into her hair.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and they stood like that for a while. She did pull back eventually, though and gave him a worried look. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

He shook his head, took the book from her hand, placing it on the shelf and led her over to her desk. "We need to talk," he said and crouched down in front of her so that they were about eye level.

"Okay," she replied, but the worried look didn't leave her face.

He took a calming breath, and started the speech he'd been going over in his mind, even though at this very moment he couldn't remember half of it. "I need to ask you a question that I asked you a while ago. Last time, I know I didn't do it in the most romantic fashion, and I've been wracking my brain for a way to do a better job this time. I didn't find one." They both let out a nervous laugh at that confession and then he continued. "So I'm going to try and explain again just how much I am in love with you. I know last time you thought, at least partly, that I asked you because I'd just seen my partner die in a bust, and you were the most likely source of comfort. And while it is true that I popped the question a little sooner than I planned to because of that event, what I probably should have told you, was that I had that ring for a couple weeks before the drug bust.

"When I got transferred, I know we agreed that it was for the best to break up before time and distance did it for us. And it did make sense at the time. I needed out of New York, to start over, and you needed to stay with your uncle." He took a deep breath, now to the hard part. "But if you ask me do it again, to leave you again and sever all ties, I don't think I'll be able to. I want you to marry me and I want you to come back to D.C. with me." Then he pulled out the ring from his pocket, the one she had given back to him, and held it up to her.

His unspoken question was answered immediately by a sob wrenched from her lips as her arms clung tightly around his neck.

* * *

Mulder looked around the conference room of the New York field office. The case had been solved, well at least as close as one ever came to solving an X-File, but ever since the arrest had been made no one had seen hide nor hair of Charlie and this was the last place in the building to look for him.

If Mulder had to guess he would bet that he was with his girlfriend, but if he hadn't turned his phone off he would know.

Their flight was in an hour and it was considered a major faux pas to leave your partner stranded.

He was about to try his cell again when he saw Charlie walk by the room. "Scully!" he called after him. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"Oh hey Mulder. I was just coming to find you. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be flying back with you. I already cleared it with Skinner, so I'll see you in a week," he began to walk off without another word, when he snapped his fingers in an 'oh yeah' kind of way and turned back around. "Will you tell Dana that she should try and be in New York by the end of the week? She has a promise to keep." And then he really did leave; and he left with the broadest grin on his face that he'd had in awhile.

Mulder, standing in the middle of the hallway, felt a knowing smile of his own spread across his face.

End Part 7


	8. The Other Brother

Part 8

Mulder woke to the feel of feather light kisses being placed up and down his neck. He opened his eyes and Dana propped up on her elbow, smiling down at him. "Morning babe," he greeted, grinning lazily at her.

"Guess what today is," she drawled in an overly sweet tone.

"What?" he asked, amused by her apparent giddiness.

"It's wedding planning day. We have to get up and meet Charlie and Stacey." Now that he remembered what the day had in store for them and groaned loudly. "Oh, come on. You know you'll love it." At his skeptical look she laughed, "Okay, so maybe you won't, but we have to go anyway." She got out of bed and tugged on his arm until he followed.

"Why did we agree to this again?" he whined as he stumbled across the room.

She pretended to think about this for a moment. "Well, I agreed because Charlie's my brother, and Stacey's perfect for him. You agreed because, even though you try to deny it, you and Charlie are friends." She started to walk to the bathroom to get ready, but before she left she threw over her shoulder, "Oh, and wasn't there something about not wanting anyone else to walk me down the aisle?"

He grinned and followed her. "Did I say that?" he asked feigning memory loss. "You must be mistaken. I would never say something so possessive."

He watched her in the mirror out of the corner of his eye as she tried to ignore the light caresses and kisses he was showering over her in order to brush her teeth.

They were a little late meeting Charlie and Stacey.

* * *

Charlie and Stacey were sitting in a booth with their food already in front of them, looking over some papers and talking in hushed tones, when Mulder and Dana showed up.

Stacey smiled wide and looked like she was about to say something, when she suddenly stood up and latched onto Dana's arm, telling her to come with her. Dana shrugged and asked Mulder to order something for her before being dragged off.

"What's wrong?" Dana asked as she was pushed into the Women's restroom.

Stacey looked like she was having trouble containing her laughter. "Nothing really. You just have a hickey on the side of your neck, and I thought you might want to know about it before either of your brothers noticed," by the end of this, the giggle she had been holding in, had burst out at the image her mind conjured up of both brothers' reactions.

Dana looked at the mark in the mirror and rolled her eyes. "You must be mistaken," she mumbled. "He would never do something as possessive as that."

Stacey didn't really understand this remark, but knew that it obviously meant something, judging by the barely concealed smirk on her face.

With a little make-up it was gone and one crisis was averted. "Okay, now you have to tell me about the gorgeous man who gave you that. Charlie hasn't told me much."

"Well..."

* * *

Charlie and Mulder watched as the two women left. Both decided that they just didn't want to know. To pass the time, they talked about a couple topics that they didn't get to when they were on the clock, sports, movies, and whatever else popped up.

When the waitress came back to get the orders she'd missed on the first go round, Bill Scully Jr. showed up.

"Hey Billy," Charlie said and slapped his back affectionately as he sat down.

"Hey Chuck."

There was an awkward silence until it finally hit Charlie. "Oh! Bill this is Mulder. Mulder this is Bill." The two men shook hands and mumbled hellos.

"You're the boyfriend right?" Mulder had never been referred to as 'the boyfriend' before, so didn't answer right away. "Did you give him the speech, Chuck?"

Charlie rolled his eyes. "It's always been your job to threaten the lives of Dana's boyfriends; I didn't want to mess with tradition." He took a sip of water before adding, with a grin, "Besides, I think I could get fired for that."

"Okay, okay." He turned back to Mulder after giving Charlie a chastising look. He leaned forward, trying to look as intimidating as possible. "Here's the deal. You don't hurt her and you live. She becomes unhappy during any part of your relationship you won't be able hide. FBI and Navy, I think we have land and sea covered. Don't you?"

Again Mulder didn't get a chance to answer because Dana and Stacey came back. "B.J.!" Dana exclaimed and pulled her older brother into a hug. After she let go she took her seat next to Mulder and gave his face a once over using her fingers to turn his face from one side to the other, then smiled and caressed his cheek. "No black eyes or bruises this time. You guys are getting better."

Her brothers looked almost ashamed, but not quite. Bill was quick to defend. "Hey, Daniel was an idiot."

"Daniel?" Mulder asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you later." Dana deflected, trying to steer the conversation away from her previous lovers. She went to the most convenient conversation topic. "So what's the plan for the day?"

"Well first we have to go get the orders in for the bridesmaid dresses, and then we're going to get all these guys fitted for tuxes. That's all for today." That sounded like plenty to all of the others but they didn't comment.

"When's your Maid of Honor... what's her name again? going to get here?" Dana asked as she sipped her iced tea.

"Oh, Tara should be here by the end of the week. She couldn't get away from her job in California right away." Stacey replied as she dabbed at the corner of her mouth with the cloth napkin.

When they had finished eating they headed off to the dress shop down the street.

* * *

The three men sat in the few cushy chairs at the front of the store while they waited. After about a half an hour Charlie started to get restless and went off in search of a soda.

"You know, I would have put good odds down on the fact that Charlie wouldn't have been the first of us to get married," Bill said conversationally.

Mulder looked up from the magazine he was reading. "Really? Who was your money on?"

Bill looked over to where Stacey and Dana were standing so that it was obvious what his answer was. "I think my parents expected it to go in chronological order, but I never really figured on that. There was almost no chance of me going first and Melissa's a little too free spirited."

"Why are you telling me this? Is this some kind of hint?" Mulder didn't like the direction this conversation was going in. He'd been dating Dana for less than six months; there was no reason to be talking about marriage yet. They weren't even living together, well at least not technically.

Bill laughed at his obvious discomfort, "No I was just making an observation, and now seemed like the best time to do it since none of my siblings are here to lay into me about it."

"Uh huh," he said noncommittally, still not sure that was his only motive.

* * *

Dana and Mulder lay spooned up in her bed, both on the verge of sleep. "So was today as awful as you thought it was going to be?" she asked sleepily.

"Hmm. I got threatened by your brother, who then suggested that I make an honest woman out of you, and got fitted for a monkey suit." He shrugged one shoulder. "Yeah it was okay."

End Part 8


	9. Getting Down the Aisle

Part 9 

Charlie and Stacey's House

Most weddings were a jumble of to-do lists and catastrophes. Charlie and Stacey's was no exception to this rule. They probably should have seen it coming since everything was going so well.

The wedding gown had been fitted to the bride expertly; she was wearing her mother's gown and it had been a little loose. The bridesmaid dresses had arrived on time without a problem, the tuxes were all pressed and hanging in each guys' closet, and the cake had been ordered. Amidst all this they managed to move into a small house that could hold them, Stacey's uncle, and little ones that might come along in the future. Almost everyone on the small list of close relatives had RSVP'ed, and they had a place to have the ceremony and subsequent reception, or at least they thought they did.

The place they booked was perfect. It was beautiful, fairly close to home so that they could bring Stacey's uncle with less trouble, and was reasonably priced. Everyone was happy and as relaxed as they could be while planning a wedding, until about a month before the event.

Stacey was at home, since it was summer and she didn't have to work until September, and so she was able to pick up the phone when a representative called to tell them that unfortunately they had double booked and that the other couple had reserved it first. Stacey was furious, but politely thanked them for calling and said that she was sure they'd figure something out. The representative apologized once more and hung up.

As soon as she got some of her anger under control she called everyone together for an emergency meeting. When everyone had arrived an hour later, they were each delegated tasks. Charlie and Mulder were put in charge of calling places while others looked over the information they had gathered when they were originally searching for a place to hold the wedding.

Around noon Tara and Stacey decided everyone probably needed a break so they sent Bill out to get a pizza.

Mulder, who was just finishing up a conversation with a most unhelpful individual, plopped down on the floor between the couch and coffee table. He rested his head against Dana's leg and as a reflex she began stroking his hair. "None of these places are going to work. They're all either booked, too far away, or too expensive." He looked around the living room and laughed as a thought occurred to him.

"What?" Dana asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that it was too bad they couldn't have the wedding here." Everyone stopped and looked at him, it was a little disconcerting and he thought he must have said the wrong thing. "What?"

Stacey and Tara exchanged a look and then started talking animatedly about how cute a wedding that would be, and what they'd have to do to plan it.

Bill walked in with two large boxes of pizza and shook his head at the excited chatter going on around him.

After they ate lunch they all went back to planning, but this time they weren't quite as stressed.

* * *

One Month Later 

Mulder was running late. There was wall-to-wall traffic on the freeway that kept him sitting in his car over an hour longer than he should have had to. When he finally got to Dana's apartment he found out that it was okay though, because she wasn't ready anyway.

When he walked in a very peculiar site greeted him. Dana was sitting in one of her dining room chairs, head down, a lot of hair splayed in front of her face, and her mother wrapping pieces of her hair around what had to be a curling iron. Mrs. Scully looked up and noticed him standing in the doorway.

"Hi Fox. We got a little bit of a late start. You should probably get comfortable."

He nodded and walked over to the refrigerator, "You guys hungry?" They answered affirmatively so he pulled out all the necessary ingredients for sandwiches and threw a few together. The result was three delicious looking sandwiches and an exceedingly messy countertop.

He served the snack and quickly, before Dana could notice the disaster, swept up the leftover ingredients with a paper towel. As he was throwing it away, however, he noticed something. "Why do you have fresh flowers in your trash can?"

He saw Dana tense slightly, but what surprised him even more was that her mother also looked anxious at his discovery. They were both quiet a little too long before Mrs. Scully said, "I tipped those over just a little before you got here. Ruined the poor things."

He nodded, but didn't believe her. He might have, had they not still been pristine, for something that had been thrown in the trash, and still in the plastic wrapping all florist use. 'Why would they lie about flowers?'

* * *

By some miracle they arrived at Charlie and Stacey's house on time. That was the only thing that was lucky though. Stacey was ready to tear her hair out. She hadn't had a minute all day to catch a breath, and she hadn't seen Charlie, Bill, or Tara for over an hour so she was left taking care of everything herself. 

She nearly squeezed the life out of Mrs. Scully when she hugged her, because she'd said Stacey should just go get ready and that she would take over.

Once Stacey had left, Mrs. Scully immediately told Mulder and Dana to go look for Bill, Charlie, and Tara while she went to check on the florists and caterers.

Mulder and Dana quickly determined that splitting up was probably a better idea than searching the house together.

* * *

Dana searched several rooms before she found Charlie. She almost passed over the room too because there was no obvious signs of someone in it until she noticed a pair of feet sticking out from behind the bed. 

Charlie was lying on the floor having apparently passed out and had a nasty bump forming on his head.

"Oh my God! Charlie?" She rushed over to him and checked his breathing. She was greatly relieved to find that he was still breathing so she shook him slightly. "Charlie. Come on, Charlie. Please get up," she pleaded; she hadn't been this worried since she was the first to notice he had chicken pox.

He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. He tried to sit up but his head was still swimming, and he barely made it up a quarter of an inch. "Hey, Day. What happened?"

"I was kind of hoping you could tell me."

He tried once more to sit up and this time was successful. Leaning against the bed he tried to remember anything that would help. "I don't know. I just remember feeling dizzy."

She didn't comment but had him track her finger, and checked his head to see if there was any obvious injury besides a bump. Satisfied that there wasn't, she helped him stand. "Okay, come on. You need to get ready for your big day, or Stacey will kill both of us."

* * *

Mulder didn't have any luck finding any of the missing parties on the first floor so he decided to check outside really quickly before seeing if Dana had found anyone. 

When he got outside, he immediately wished he hadn't thought to check there.

Bill and Tara were sitting next to the only tree in the backyard making out zealously.

Mulder cleared his throat loudly and the couple jumped. Tara began to blush and no one would meet each other's eyes.

"Your mom's looking for you."

"Um, yeah, sure. I'll be there in a minute."

Mulder quickly walked back inside. "Yeah that wasn't awkward," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

The ceremony was beautiful. Father McCue gave a short speech before having Charlie and Stacey repeat their vows. Both repeated the vows and didn't stumble once over them. 

Stacey's little nephew had managed not to loose the rings in the five minutes the grown-ups entrusted them with him.

No one tripped on their high heels walking up or down the aisle.

All in all the ceremony was perfect.

* * *

The reception was held outside in the backyard and looked more like a picnic than anything else, except for the band that was playing not far away from the guests. 

Charlie was surrounded by several people but looked like he was trying to find any way to escape. Mulder decided to take pity on him and walked over, making an excuse to the group that his wife needed him. A couple of the older men made the whipped sound, but when elbowed by their wives, quickly shut up. Charlie gave Mulder a grateful look and went off to find Stacey.

The party was going almost as well as the ceremony had, until a ball came sailing out of nowhere into the area where the band was playing and rolled to a stop at the drummer's feet. Before anyone could even begin to figure out where it had come from, a dog came bounding up and in his utter excitement bit the drummer in an attempt to reach the ball.

Several people stood, looking shocked until a little boy, about seven or eight years old, came running in shouting, "No Digger! Let him go!" A few guests helped him pull the dog off of the poor drummer and put him back on his leash. The little boy looked ready to burst into tears because of what his dog had done, but they assured him that it was okay and even sent him home with a slice of cake.

"Anyone want to catch the bouquet?" Stacey asked in a shaky voice after they had sent the little boy on his way. Everybody laughed and the single women grouped up, some more willingly than others.

When Tara was the one who came up with the flowers, Mulder shot Bill a look and almost couldn't contain his laughter at the flustered expression that was his response.

The one thing that could be said for the day was that it was anything but uneventful.

End Part 9 


	10. The Erlenmeyer Flask

Part 10

Dana's Apartment

Mulder was startled awake by the ringing of a phone. He gently pulled his arm out from under Dana's head and walked into the living room. "Mulder."

"Are you watching channel eight?" was all Deep Throat said before hanging up. Mulder quickly turned on the television and, after watching briefly, put in a tape and started recording.

"Those details," a man who had been identified as Captain Roy Lacerio was saying, "are still unclear, I'll be talking with several of the off-"

"We need you captain."

The captain made his apologies and quickly followed the officer. Having lost their interview the news cut back to their reporter. Mulder stopped the tape and began to rewind it.

"Mulder, what are you doing?" Dana asked sleepily. 

He glanced up quickly but went almost immediately back to the tape. "I have to watch this."

She let out a groan and sat down next to him on the couch "What are you hoping to find?"

"I don't know."

"And you just felt the need to get up in the middle of the night to record a news station and try and find something that you don't know you're looking for?"

"No. I got a call telling me to watch this channel," he replied distractedly.

"That's all they said?"

"Yeah."

* * *

X-Files Office

"Do we know why the suspect was being chased?" Charlie asked staring at the screen for what felt like the millionth time.

"As far as I can tell, he wouldn't pull over for a moving violation."

"So he's a hardened criminal," Charlie said sarcastically, not that Mulder noticed because he was busy looking at the film frame by frame. He stopped the tape and printed out a picture of the car the suspect was driving. "How do we know Deep Throat isn't lying to you?"

"Why would he do that?" Charlie threw him a disbelieving look, which caused Mulder to get defensive. "I don't think he would call if there wasn't something here he wanted me to find." 

"Then what are we missing?"

* * *

Charlie and Mulder left Dr. Berube's lab with no more information than when they'd entered it.

"We should probably go ask his housekeeper about the car. It's almost 5:00, so it's not too late," Mulder suggested.

"No," Charlie answered firmly.

"No?"

"Mulder we're out here on a hunch, and it's not even half a hunch at that. We're not getting anywhere, this one's over."

"We can't just stop, Deep Throat wouldn't..."

"We don't know anything about this guy and yet we follow everything he says blindly. We don't even know his real name or..."

"He's in a delicate position. He has access to information and indiscretion could expose him," Mulder retorted, getting a little annoyed.

"You don't know that this isn't his twisted idea of a game."

"You think he does it because he gets off on it?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, I think he does it because you do."

* * *

For it to have only been a fairly short case, it had wiped Mulder out. Which was why he was so relieved when he had pulled up in front of Dana's apartment. The relief was short lived because Deep Throat had confronted him before he could make it to the door.

He had given the standard 'I'm so disappointed you've decided to walk away from this' speech and Mulder had answered accordingly with 'well, if you had given me something more' blah, blah, blah.

Dana was sitting on her couch reading Catch-22 when he finally reached the apartment.

"Hey, that's a good one. Have you ever read it before?"

"Yeah, someone was discussing about it at work and I couldn't remember the part they were talking about so I decided to reread it." She finished up the paragraph she was reading and looked up at him, smiling. He leaned down and brushed a light kiss across her lips. "You're back pretty quick. Case turn up nothing?"

"It was a dud. Hey, why don't you get dressed and we'll go do something."

"You sure? You look dead on your feet."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Tomorrow's Saturday so I can sleep in if I need to."

Dana raised an eyebrow at the thought of him sleeping in, he barely ever even got eight hours much less more than that, but didn't comment and went to change.

* * *

Because it was Friday night they decided to not go to any of the restaurants they normally frequented, agreeing that they wouldn't be able to hear themselves think over the clamor of the crowds. So instead they headed towards the outskirts of town where there was a quiet Chinese restaurant run by a couple who absolutely loved them.

"Fox! Dana! Where have you two been?" Wing Yan asked, trying to keep a stern look on her face. After having three children she probably had it perfected, but she never seemed to be able to hold it with her customers. "Chou! Fox and Dana are here."

While they were waiting for her husband to come out of the kitchen they exchanged hugs and stories from the last couple months.

"So Li was wondering if he could give you a call sometime. He's not quite sure what to do with his Physics degree."

"Sure, no problem. How are the other two doing?"

"Polly and Mary are almost done with high school and are trying to decide which colleges to go to."

"They decide on anything yet?"

"Not really." She paused and gave a speculative look at the couple in front her, trying to determine if anything was different, before asking, "How about you two?"

After a quick glance at each other Mulder shrugged and gave a noncommittal, "same old, same old."

Wing Yan looked like she was going to comment when Chou came out of the kitchen at the back of the restaurant to greet them. There was another round of hugs and then they were seated with a promise to bring out their usual.

"You going to tell me why this case is bothering you?"

He shook his head, "It's not really the case, don't worry about it."

"Uh huh. So you'll tell me later when it's almost eating you alive?"

"Sounds like a plan," he said with a wink and she couldn't quite suppress a grin as she shook her head.

* * *

Next Morning

Mulder was walking in from a run when his cell phone rang. He answered quickly, not wanting to wake up Dana.

"Mulder. Hey Scully. When did this happen? Yeah, I'll meet you there." He hung up and saw Dana standing near by.

"Not quite such a dud, huh?"

"Apparently not."

* * *

Berube Residence  
2 Days Later

After picking up a lead, Mulder arrived at Dr. Berube's residence and under the cover of darkness, quietly slipped inside.

A thump from upstairs when Mulder first walked into the house brought him to the attic. He looked around but couldn't see anything. "Doctor Secare?" He had barely made it into the dark, stuffy room before Secare came charging at him, taking him completely by surprise. "Wait," he cried but received a punch for his efforts. "I'll protect you."

Secare didn't get a chance to respond. A gun shot to the back of the neck sent him toppling over in front of Mulder. A man standing in the doorway of the attic distracted him from seeing the green ooze fizzling from the wound.

* * *

Next Morning

Charlie pulled up in front of his sister's apartment. He was reaching to push the buzzer when Deep Throat came up behind him.

"He's not there. I dare say your sister would be quite frantic if she hadn't been called in to do an emergency autopsy last night."

"Where is he?"

"I wish I knew," Charlie gave him a look that clearly said that he didn't believe him. "They won't kill him."

"How can you know that?"

"He's become too high-profile and you've got evidence that could expose them."

At one point Charlie would have questioned how this man knew about the test he had run on the bacteria but it had been a very odd year. "I don't have anything. They stole it." His anger and frustration over the situation was growing by the second and his distrust of Deep Throat wasn't helping.

"Listen to me," Deep Throat tried to placate him. "Evidence still exists."

"Where?"

"It might be difficult to obtain and we'll need your sister's help. With her medical background I might be able to get her in."

* * *

Dana didn't have any trouble getting past the first guard or the first door when she got to the one marked 'Cryology', but her first roadblock came when she tried to walk through the second and nothing happened when she slid her card through.

A guard she hadn't noticed spoke through the intercom. "Name?"

"Dana Scully."

"Company or institution?"

"Federal government."

"Project password?"

This pulled her up short as her mind went over everything Charlie had told her about the case to try and prepare her for this. Her eyes couldn't help but wander toward the alarm bell and the video camera.

"Project password?"

"Purity control."

He wrote it down and started tapping numbers out on a keypad. The door unlocked and she walked through it, toward the guard.

"Log in please?"

She signed the clipboard and then was allowed to walk through another glass door, which opened to a room filled with canisters. One was marked 'Purity Control'. She opened it and was shocked at its contents.

Inside the glass and metal container in her hand, permanently frozen in place was what appeared to be an alien fetus.

Carefully she placed the container in the case she carried and as quickly and discretely as possible, left the building.

* * *

Charlie hadn't realized how anxious he was getting until he saw Deep Throat's car pull up. He picked up the box containing the evidence Dana had retrieved and walked over to meet the older man.

"You're late."

"Do you have it?"

"Yes."

"Good. They're willing to make the exchange. I'll take the parcel."

Charlie shook his head. "No, sir. I'll make the exchange."

This seemed to anger Deep Throat. "I made the deal, Scully, they're expecting me."

"I don't trust you."

"You've got no one else to trust!"

They continued to argue until a white van pulled up in front of them. Deep Throat took the package from Charlie without another word and went to make the exchange. What happened next was a blur. After the box was handed over, the man walked back to the van but before getting in it, pulled out a gun and fired.

Deep Throat fell to the ground and the van sped off, but as it was doing so, Mulder was pushed out the rear of the vehicle.

Charlie ran to Mulder to check on him and after determining he was alive went to check Deep Throat.

"Trust... trust... no one," was all the older man was able to gasp out on his last breathe.

* * *

Thirteen Days Later

Dana woke up to the sound of the lock on her front door turning. She walked out to meet Mulder and instantly knew his meeting had not gone well. "How did it go?"

He looked up at her, a lost look in his eyes. "They're shutting us down. Reassigning us to other sections. It's over, Dana."

"Can't you protest? They can't just..."

"Yes, they can."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm... not going to give up. I can't give up. Not as long as the truth is out there."

She nodded, and led him over to the kitchen table having him sit down. She started fixing him tea while he stared straight ahead, hoping that he would wake up at any moment and find this had all been a dream.

End Part 10


	11. Little Green Men

Part 11

"Charlie I need a favor."

"Sure, sis. What do you need?"

* * *

Mulder walked numbly down the hall, not seeing anyone, including Charlie who tried to stop and greet him. He got to his desk and started shuffling papers but stopped short when he saw the picture frame on his desk turned down. Lifting it he saw a note stuck over the picture but when he removed it he wound up staring at the picture of his sister rather then reading the note straight away.

* * *

Dana paced back and forth through the parking lot, more anxious than she thought she should have been.

Moments later Mulder arrived. "Four dollars for the first hour of parking is criminal. What you've got had better be worth at least forty-five minutes."

She looked at him, clearly amused, but sobered almost immediately. "You know, Mulder, from... from back there, you look like him."

"Him?"

"Deep Throat."

"He's dead, Dana. I attended his funeral at Arlington through eight-power binoculars from a thousand yards away. Now, the picture frame was turned down, you wanted to talk. What have you found?"

"I wanted to talk but I haven't found anything."

"It's dangerous for us to have a little chat. We must assume we're being watched." He almost laughed at the look she gave him.

"What makes you think they even care about us?"

"Why did you bother to come here covertly then?" he countered.

"Because I realized that it was the only way that you would see me."

"So what do you want?" He watched her step closer to him and felt his legs try to meet her halfway but the rest of him wasn't cooperating.

"To know you're alright."

The concern in her voice and the look on her face made his resolve weaken. "They've got me on electronic surveillance. White-bread cases, bank fraud, insurance fraud, health care swindles."

"Mulder, I know you feel... frustrated," she ignored his raised eyebrow at her choice of words and continued, "that without the bureau's resources, it's impossible for you to continue..."

Mulder shook his head. "No, it..."

"Well what then? When they closed you down you insisted that as long as the truth was out there you would continue. But now..."

"Have you ever been to San Diego?"

Dana sighed, hoping that this was actually leading to something, not just a change of topic. "Yeah."

"Did you check out the Palomar observatory?"

"No."

"From 1948 until recently, it was the largest telescope in the world. The idea and design came from a brilliant and wealthy astronomer named George Ellery Hale. Actually, the idea was presented to Hale one night. While he was playing billiards, an elf climbed in his window and told him to get money from the Rockefeller Foundation for a telescope."

"And you're worried that all your life, you've been seeing elves?"

He collapsed into a crouching position against the wall. "In my case... little green men."

Dana walked over and squatted down next to him. "But Mulder, you've seen so much."

"Seeing isn't enough, I should have something to hold onto. Some solid evidence."

"What about your sister's abduction? You've held onto that."

"I'm beginning to wonder if... if that ever even happened."

She hated the defeated tone in his voice. "Mulder, even if George Hale only saw elves in his mind, the telescope still got built." She reached out and tipped up his chin. "Don't give up." She stood up and lightly ruffled his hair. "And next time we meet out in the open. You don't get to hide from the world anymore."

* * *

She'd just gotten home when there was a knock on her door. Sighing in frustration she yanked open the door she'd just closed. Frustration was quickly replaced by confusion. "Mulder?"

"Hey," he said casually and leaned against the doorframe. "I forgot to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"You want to have lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure." There was a long pause where neither said anything. So finally she asked in an amused tone, "Was that it?"

A boyish grin spread across his face, "Yup."

"And the phone was too lowly an invention to be used for this conversation?"

He leaned further into her personal space and whispered, "Well... when a phone let's me do this..." he kissed her temple and trailed kisses down the side of her face until he reached the pressure point right below her ear, "then I'll use it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That wasn't fair."

"Probably not," he agreed smugly. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

"Samantha! No!" Mulder cried out as his nightmare reached the terrifying moment when his sister floated out the window and he sat paralyzed, unable to do anything.

And then it was over. He was in his apartment again.

Needing something to do after the adrenaline rush caused by the nightmare he got up to close the blinds on his window.

He was still standing by his desk when a man opened the door to his apartment.

"We're going to the hill."

* * *

Next Day

"Hello?" Stacey asked cheerfully when she answered the phone.

"Hello ma'am. This is Kimberly and I'm calling for A.D. Skinner. May I speak to Agent Scully please?"

"This is his wife. Can I take a message?"

"Of course. Would you please tell Agent Scully that his presence is requested in the A.D.'s office at 11 o'clock today?"

At the word today Stacey paused, her pen hovering over the note she was scribbling. "He has the day off."

"I'm sorry ma'am." She did sound sincerely apologetic but that did little to quell Stacey's anger. "Thank you for your time. Goodbye."

Stacey hung up the phone and, a little angrier than before, continued putting her uncle's breakfast on a tray. They had told the home-care nurse that she could come in late because both she and Charlie had taken the day off.

Picking up the tray she turned to walk out of the kitchen and almost ran into Charlie.

"Hey," he said with a crooked smile. Stacey glared. "Hey, what'd I do?"

She just shook her head and looked down at the tray, not meeting his eyes. "There's a message for you on the counter. I have to bring this up to Uncle Dave."

He watched her disappear through the kitchen door and up the staircase before walking over to the counter to look at the note.

'Oh no. No wonder Stacey is pissed,' Charlie thought in exasperation. 'What could Skinner want? He's not even my A.D. anymore.'

Charlie was changing into a suit when Stacey had finished feeding her uncle and came to find him.

"So does this mean that you're going to miss our appointment?"

"I promise I'll try not to, baby."

* * *

Skinner's Office

"When did you last see Agent Mulder?"

Charlie almost groaned. Of course this had something to do with Mulder. "Yesterday."

"Where?"

"In the bullpen hallway." This line of questioning was starting to get him worried.

Skinner's expression, however, was not giving anything away. "Did you speak with him?"

"No. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Agent Mulder failed to appear at his assignment this morning. His, uh... his whereabouts are unknown."

"If I can help in anyway..."

"That won't be necessary Agent Scully. Thank you for your time. That will be all."

* * *

Mulder's Apartment

Charlie thanked the super for letting him in and then waited until he was gone to walk in. Nothing in particular looked out of the ordinary so he walked over to Mulder's desk, since it was probably the best place to start looking.

Noticing that the message-machine's light was blinking he clicked to hear them.

"Mulder are you there?" His sister's voice asked. "You were suppose to meet me for lunch half an hour ago and your cell phone's turned off. Call me when you get this message."

'Oh, Mulder, you are in so much trouble,' Charlie thought, recognizing his sister's tone of voice.

While still rifling through the desk drawers he turned on the computer. He clicked on the directory marked 'files' but was stopped when the computer demanded he give a password first. After several failed attempts at guessing he tried 'Trustno1' and was granted access.

"Galactic latitude?" He was about to continue to read the document that had popped up when he heard footsteps in the hallway so he quickly pressed print.

"May I ask what you're doing here, Agent Scully?"

* * *

"Dana, I need you to look at some things for me," Charlie said as soon as he walked into her office, where she was typing up an autopsy report.

"Hello to you too."

"Sis, I really don't have time. I promised I would meet Stacey at the doctor's and your boyfriend is missing."

"Missing?" she asked, alarm making her voice louder than it should have been. "Since when? Charlie what are you talking about?"

"Dana, I will explain everything but first I need you to go over these manifests and tell me if there are any names you recognize. I've checked them and couldn't find any so I'm hoping that you can." He walked over to her and kissed her on the top of the head. With more conviction than he felt, he said, "It'll be okay. I've got to go but call me if you find anything okay?"

* * *

Miami International Airport

They were following her, she was sure of it. She had spotted them a couple minutes ago but hadn't yet been able to shake them. After her brother had explained what was going on, and finding Mulder's reservations under an alias, George Hale, it almost made her wish she had waited for Charlie before going after Mulder. Almost.

'Think,' she told herself a couple times before something finally came to her.

Picking up a payphone and dialing Mulder's number she waited for the machine to pick up.

"C.A. 519. 7:05. 9:50." The couple, now sitting down still hadn't looked away yet. Sighing in frustration she dialed another number and listened to the mechanical voice telling her what time it is.

Finally, they weren't paying attention, it wasn't long but it was just enough time to slip towards the staircase to the upper level. She watched as they looked around in confusion and then walked off.

Once she knew they were gone she walked to a desk marked 'South Coast Airlines'. She had a plane to catch to San Juan.

* * *

Skinner's Office

"You left your offsite set-up." Skinner was not happy. "Another brick agent had to cover your ass. The entire surveillance, all the months of work on this case, gone. Just like you, gone." Very unhappy. "This has four-bagger all over it, Mulder. Censure, transfer, suspension, probation."

"I understand that leaving my assignment warrants disciplinary action and I'm willing to accept those measures."

"But?"

'Well, since he asked...' Mulder thought sarcastically. "But I had enough on that surveillance to arrest those suspects. After three days, I could have nailed them on forty counts of bank fraud but you left me there. I'm surprised you even noticed I was gone, let alone wiretap my phone... an illegal procedure without a court order."

This got an interesting reaction.

Skinner looked like he knew nothing about any wiretapping and was staring at the Cigarette- Smoking Man, clearly shocked.

The Cigarette-Smoking Man on the other hand didn't seem phased at all.

"Your time is over... and you leave with nothing."

"Get out," Skinner ordered.

Mulder would have assumed Skinner was talking to him if he still hadn't been looking directly at CSM, although it was clear that CSM had assumed it anyway.

"I said get the hell out," Skinner ordered again, more forcefully this time.

It was now absolutely clear who was being addressed, both men seemed slightly taken aback but this did not stop the older man from pausing to light a cigarette, almost menacingly so, before he left.

Once he was gone Skinner turned his attention back to Mulder. "Report back to your assignment."

"A minute ago I was a four-bagger." Deciding not to push his luck, however, he uncomfortably shifted his feet and asked, "Do you want me to make the arrest?"

"I think we need more to go on. Continue the surveillance."

Mulder stood looking at his boss for a moment until Skinner returned to his chair, clearly he was being dismissed.

* * *

"Mulder," he said as he answered his cell phone.

"You owe me lunch," Dana's teasing voice rang through the phone.

He chuckled warmly. "So I do. Meet you in half an hour?"

"Sure."

End Part 11


	12. Run or Hide

Part 12

Dana sat staring straight ahead, but she didn't see anything. Her apartment was eerily quiet, which was a sharp contrast to ten minutes ago. This didn't even register though because the shouted words continually rang through her ears.

'How did this happen? We were having a great night and then... God, I need to talk to someone.'

She jumped at least ten feet into the air when her phone rang, but just stared at it until it registered that it was actually ringing.

"Hello?"

"Dana, what's wrong?" Melissa's worried voice asked. In the background, she could hear the dull roar of constant chatter.

"Missy, where are you?"

"I'm eating dinner. I was just in the middle of it when I had the strongest feeling that you need to-"

"No. I mean what city. Where are you right now?"

"San Francisco." And like always Melissa knew exactly what she was getting at. "I'll pick you up at the airport."

"Thanks Missy," she said, casually ignoring Melissa's 'psychic impressions'. This was not the time to argue over extreme possibilities; she needed to talk to her sister.

* * *

San Francisco  
Next Day

One thing that could be said about Melissa was that she wasn't hard to spot in a crowd. With her bright hair and even brighter clothes, she stuck out, even in San Francisco.

Neither sister said anything as they walked towards baggage claim, but Melissa instantly slipped into her big sister role and put a protective arm around her younger sister, the way she used to when they were little and were starting out in a new school.

The silence continued until they arrived at the apartment Melissa was looking after for a friend while he backpacked through Europe.

Sitting on the couch, each with a mug of hot chocolate in their hand, Melissa finally tried to broach the subject. "So what happened?"

Dana gave her sister a pitiful look that she never would have let anyone else see. "Ethan happened."

Melissa couldn't stop the groan at the all too familiar name. "More flowers?"

"No." She closed her eyes, already going through the scene again in her head. "He decided he needed to see me in person."

Already guessing where this was going but hoping that she was wrong she asked, "He showed up at your apartment?" Dana nodded. "Mulder was with you when he did?" Again her only answer was a nod. "That didn't go over too well I bet."

"Suffice to say I'm not sure I'll be seeing Mulder again anytime soon. We got into a major fight after I got Ethan to leave."

"Was anything officially said?"

"When your boyfriend accuses you of being in love with another man, does that mean the relationship is over?" Dana asked with as much humor as she could force into her voice.

"Well, I've never heard it described as a good omen," Melissa replied in the same tone. "He really said that?"

"Not in those exact words, but that was about the gist of it."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that if he was going to be an idiot he should leave."

Melissa groaned, "You just kicked him out?"

"He wasn't listening to anything I had to say and was making ridiculous claims, so yes I 'just kicked him out'," Dana said indignantly.

Melissa held up her hands. "It's just harder to do damage control the more time you put between the incident and the next conversation." There was a lull as both sisters considered this. "What exactly was he mad about?"

"Well it started out because I hadn't told him about Ethan trying to contact me. Then he made the connection between that and the flowers he saw in the trash can before Charlie's wedding. He said that I'd been lying to him for months, and things just exploded after that until I finally screamed at him to get out."

"Dana, you've got to stop keeping things from him. It only hurts you both in the end." Melissa pulled her into a tight hug and then reassuredly said, "It'll work out,"

Resting her head on her sister's shoulder, Dana whispered sadly, "I don't know..."

* * *

Stacy opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a very distressed looking Mulder.

"Is she here?" he asked in a strained voice with haunted eyes.

"Dana? We haven't seen her since a couple days ago when we had dinner at Maggie's house."

His face fell the slightest bit but he nodded and began to turn to go back to his car, when Stacey stopped him. "Come inside. You look like you could use some strong coffee."

Mulder was ready to protest but stopped at a look that could have gotten the most stubborn toddler to eat their broccoli. He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table, in which, half was covered in papers to be graded and the other half covered in case notes. Charlie looked up briefly to greet him but then went back to reading the paper in his hand.

Still reading what looked like a background check he commented, "If you're here about Dana, she's fine."

"When did you talk to her?" both Stacey and Mulder asked, though one was shocked and the other frantic.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "This morning."

This was clearly not enough information for Mulder, and so his next question was a little harsher then he meant it to be. "Where is she?"

"I'm not going to tell you that."

"Why the hell not?"

Charlie raised one eyebrow at his tone but didn't comment on it. "Because she asked me not to." This seemed to deflate him a little, so Charlie continued, "She says she needs a couple days. She also said that if you even bothered to try and find out," this was said with another raised eyebrow, "that I could tell you after that time."

Charlie paused to let this sink in before saying, "So it must have been a pretty bad fight."

"Very bad. At one point I thought she was going to start throwing crockery at my head." He slid his hand over his face and sighed. "What am I going to do?"

Charlie wasn't sure if this was a question he was posing to himself or not but decided to answer it anyway. "Well as her brother I must tell you to stay the hell away from her until she's damn well ready to talk to you or I will be forced to beat you into a pulp." Charlie paused for emphasis and then went on, "However, as your friend I must tell you that the second you find out in two days where she is, you better be on the first flight you can get; you need to fix this now."

"You really should see someone about these split personalities you seem to be forming, Scully," Mulder joked, but the look in his eyes told Charlie that he had heard him loud and clear.

"Shut up, Mulder," his mock sarcastic reply was met with a smirk.

* * *

"Do you think he'll come?"

"Missy, I am absolutely positive that in two days time Mulder will show up on your doorstep. Will you be able to keep Dana there for that long?"

"Charlie-bear, she's considering staying here for two weeks, two days isn't going to be a problem."

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call you what, Charlie-bear?"

* * *

Two Days Later  
Evening

Mulder had barely knocked on the door when it opened wide. The woman on the other side of it raised her index finger to her lips and shushed him before waving him in.

"You're Melissa, right?" he asked, vaguely recognizing her from photos he'd seen in both Dana and Mrs. Scully's homes.

"Yeah. I've been told not to call you Fox."

He nodded but his eyes were glued to the sleeping form on the couch.

Melissa looked him over thoughtfully before saying, "She had a pretty hard night." She paused to see if he would ask for further information but he didn't. "You know, I must say, you are an improvement."

"Excuse me?" He dragged his eyes away from Dana to give her an odd look. "An improvement over what?"

Melissa shrugged casually, in an eerily similar way that her brother had two days prior. "Her other beaus. I never thought she'd get over her Electra complex."

"I do not have an Electra complex," a sleepy voice said indignantly, though it was muffled by the layers of blankets that were pulled over her head so that only her hair could be seen.

"Of course you don't," Melissa agreed but, at the same time, nodded vehemently at Mulder. "Anyway... Dana, I'm gonna head out for a few minutes. There's this Korean restaurant that I went to with a friend a couple days ago and I've been craving it ever since. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone." And with that she breezed out the door.

There was an awkward silence that descended on the two as soon as the door clicked shut. Mulder stood nervously by the door not knowing if he should sit, since the couch was occupied. Dana forced herself to uncover her head and sit up, but she spent more time making sure the blanket was lint free than looking at Mulder.

"I don't think I've been this nervous around anyone since my first date in sixth grade."

Dana did look up then and smiled sadly, acknowledging his statement, but tried to lighten the mood slightly, "Did you score a kiss back then?"

"Cheek."

"Aww," was her only sympathetic response.

There was another lull in the conversation and, though it was still uncomfortable, they felt a little more at ease.

"Have you had much time to play tourist?"

"Not really but we had lunch in Golden Gate park yesterday."

"Have fun?"

"I guess... it was pretty cold."

"Hmm..."

"What have you done the last couple days?"

"Besides have a major panic attack... nothing much."

"I'm sorry you worried."

"Why'd you do it?"

He sounded so wounded, but the look on his face was completely blank. However the memory of their fight only two days old made her words more biting than she intended them to be. "What? Did you expect me to go running home to my mother instead?"

The wounded look changed to one of anger. "I didn't expect you to run at all! One argument should not send you flying to the other side of the country."

"I didn't run." Dana stood from the couch, the blanket falling from around her to the floor.

Her words were deathly calm, but he was past the point of heeding warning signs. "What would you call it? Making me track you down through your brother while you're hiding in San Francisco with your sister. Do you always hide behind family?"

"Do you always look for an excuse?" She fired back, propping fists on hips and arching her eyebrow.

"What?" he asked harshly. 'What on earth is she talking about? I'm not making excuses for anything...'

"I'm just wondering what it'll be next time. Let's see, I don't think you'd be banal enough to use the same reason twice, but what have you used so far? My brother, that was a great one by the way, it actually fooled a few people. I'm surprised you didn't break up with me when Reggie died but then again I think you almost did. And now, of course, there's Ethan."

"I can't believe you're actually trying to pin this one on me. This is nothing like when I found out Charlie was your brother. You've been in contact with your ex-fiancé for over a year and you've been hiding it from me! And," his voice took on a note of disbelief, "and when I asked you if you still loved him you didn't deny it."

When she answered her voice was quieter and a mixture of hurt, concern, and anger. There were at least two things wrong with his statement, but she was just going to tackle one at a time. "Do you really think I would agree to marry someone I didn't love?"

He didn't answer but thought, 'No, but that's what I'm afraid of.'

"Do you?" she repeated.

"No."

"I wouldn't," she agreed, having extracted the answer she was looking for. "Of course I have some level of feelings for him." He nodded grudgingly, and she could swear he looked somewhat defeated. "But I think you're forgetting something."

"What?"

"I came to you. I didn't go to him when my father died." On instinct she moved a little closer to him but stopped herself short, telling herself that they weren't quite back there yet.

He shrugged off her statement. "That was just because you thought you saw a ghost. Besides, you went back to him too, almost as soon as we broke- up."

"I never went back to him." Mulder snorted but didn't say anything. "I never did. I took him back every time he came back, but I never... Even before I met you."

He was silent as he took in this information. "Why'd you take him back if he wasn't worth going back to?"

She looked perplexed as she tried to find the right answer to this question. "Because it wasn't him personally that wasn't worth going back to, it was the relationship." His look asked her to continue. "It was more like friends with benefits than anything else. It was not one of the most fulfilling relationships to be in but it was... comfortable."

He seemed to understand this analogy a little too well and she wanted to ask why, but now didn't seem like the right time.

"So are you guys still friends, or does he want something more?"

Dana chuckled dryly. "Well, Ethan wasn't taking the hint when all the letters and presents started returning to him, but I think you got the point across very well on Friday night."

Mulder laughed too and some of the tension in the room eased a little. "Hey, I didn't hurt him."

"No, just scared the shit out of him." He gave her an innocent 'who me?' expression that caused her to roll her eyes. "Oh like you didn't mean to 'accidentally' show him your gun." They both sobered but continued to grin at each other. "You should know, I wasn't in contact with him. I tried to rebuke him as much as possible."

"I know," he nodded. Stepping closer, he tentatively reached one hand out and cupped her cheek. She smiled and leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's a good thing neither of us is high-maintenance or this relationship would be a lot of work."

* * *

One Hour Later

Melissa stumbled over the threshold, trying to juggle three bags of Korean food and unlock the door at the same time. She was glad she hadn't dropped everything, not just because that would have been the end of dinner, but because she saw the sleeping couple curled up together.

Holding back a laugh she walked into the kitchen, set down the food, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Charlie-bear. Guess what!"

"Melissa, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"I believe it's one in the morning there."

"Ugh, close enough."

"Yeesh, I was just calling to tell you 'mission accomplished'. Go back to sleep."

"Will do."

She hung up the phone, turned around and ran straight into Mulder. "I thought you guys might have been up to something."

"Hey, are you complaining? The way I see it, we did you two a favor. I tell you, no gratitude."

"Hey, I didn't say that. I'll be sure to tell 'Charlie-bear' thank you when I get back to DC."

* * *

One Week Later

"Dr. Scully?" Dana looked up from the chart she was reading in response to the voice. "There's a man outside that says it's very urgent that he speak with you."

"Alright, thanks. I'll be right out." When she actually did go out into the hallway she wished she hadn't. "Ethan! I told you-"

He held up his hand defensively. "I know, I know. I'm really not here to-" He sighed and shifted uncomfortably. "I just came to say I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you didn't know-"

"But I did. I knew this time was different." They were both silent. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that and to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Yeah, I'm moving out to Chicago."

Silently she took that in before slowly nodding in understanding. Reaching up she hugged him tightly. "Bye Ethan."

He smiled sadly, and then turned and was gone. She didn't see him again for a long time.

End Part 12


	13. Trouble With Workaholics

Part 13

August 7, 1994

Dana sighed, stretching the muscles that were protesting from being hunched over boxes all day, before once again crouching down next to the box of books that were supposed to go in the living room. Picking up the next book, she glanced at the title and couldn't help ribbing her new roommate.

"I assume this goes with your work books," she called out to him.

Mulder looked up from his uncooperative fish tank to see her waving a copy of 'The Alien in Us' at him.

"Ha ha. No, actually that's a psychology book, gag gift from the boys a couple Christmases ago."

Before she could make any further comments, Charlie came banging through the door with what looked like an extremely heavy box. "Speaking of the guys," Charlie huffed as he set the box on the floor, "why aren't they helping today?"

"I believe a flu epidemic mysteriously hit their lair," Mulder returned distractedly, still trying to balance the saline and water content of the tank.

"Well, we're almost done anyway. There are a couple more boxes at your place and then all that's left is furniture."

"I'll get the next load," Mulder said when he finally looked up from the tank; fairly certain that he'd fixed it.

Charlie plopped down on his sister's overstuffed couch and waved his hand. "Be my guest." He closed his eyes and leaned back, but was quickly jolted out of his daydreaming state when his sister kicked his legs off the coffee table.

"If you're staying here, you're working here." She said in her best imitation of their mother. He pretended to cower in fear but got up nonetheless and picked a random box to start unpacking.

Mulder, who was always amused by the interaction between brother and sister, decided that since the show was over it was time to leave. "I'll be back in a little bit," he called and, because he was looking at the occupants of the living room, almost ran into a man, who Dana recognized as Mulder's recently assigned, and hopefully temporary, partner, Krycek, on his way out the door. "Whoa, we need to get you a bell. What's up? Come to help with moving?"

The young agent shook his head. "No, there's a situation going down. They want you out there right away."

"What kind of situation?"

"Hostage negotiation."

"And they want me?" he asked incredulously. He'd never been brought in for hostage negotiation, not even when he was in VCU.

"Yeah."

"What for?"

"This guy escaped a mental institution. He's got four people at gunpoint in an office building. Claims he's being controlled by aliens." Krycek stopped, as if suddenly noticing his audience. 

"Oh, hi Agent Scully, Dr. Scully."

Mulder glanced over his shoulder at the two and sent them an apologetic smile.

Charlie groaned and got his coat. "Okay, fine. I'll get the next load."

* * *

Dana was in the middle of unpacking one of the few boxes left when she heard her cell phone ring. Running to the phone, which was in the other room, she still almost missed the call.

"Scully."

"Why are we involved with workaholics, again?" Stacy asked without preamble.

"Well, hello to you too, Stacy. Charlie get called in on a case too? He just left here a couple hours ago."

"Yeah. He was here for almost all of five minutes before he ran off to do a background check or something." Stacey sighed heavily before continuing. "Uncle Dave is in the hospital over night so..."

"So, you're there all by yourself?" Dana suggested as an ending to the sentence, which earned another sigh, although this one was closer to a groan.

"It's ridiculous, really. I lived alone for years and it never bothered me but for some reason the house seems to be echoing more than usual."

"Do you want to go out and do something?"

Stacey paused and then hesitantly replied, "I could use the excuse to get out of the house."

"I have to change out of my moving clothes so I'll be over in an hour."

"Thanks, Dana."

* * *

Later That Night

Charlie walked into the house and tossed his keys onto the table near the door. His mind wasn't really on what he was doing as he set down the groceries he had just purchased as he was thinking about what happened after he bought them.

"Stacey!" he called absently, still wondering over the incident with the scanner, but received no response. After putting the groceries away he picked up the phone and dialed his sister's, and now Mulder's, number.

He waited as the phone rang on and on until the machine finally picked up. "Hey, guys, it's Charlie. Mulder, something weird just happened; there is something not right about this chip that was pulled from Barry. I haven't had anyone do the test you asked me to have run on it but there's some kind of a bar code or something on it. It's almost like someone was cataloging him. I'm not sure what to make of it." Charlie was on the verge of continuing when he turned around and saw Duane Barry standing outside the window. "What the fu-" The glass shattered.

* * *

Mulder walked through the crime scene, simultaneously trying to picture what had happened and trying to get the images to stop, unfortunately the message, that he barely finished listening to before rushing over here, left very little to the imagination. The problem was he'd been on too many of these cases, knew what to expect, knew what could be happening, but this time it wasn't some nameless victim.

"This is my own house, God damn it!"

Stacey was home.

Mulder walked over to where Stacey was standing toe to toe with an officer, demanding answers that he obviously wasn't willing to give, and Dana standing next to her demanding the same answers but trying to calm her sister-in-law down. Both women spotted him when he entered the room.

"Mulder, maybe you can-" Stacey stopped short when she noticed the blood on his hand. Fear entered her eyes. "Someone better tell me what's going on right now!"

"Mulder?" Dana started in a voice, which for some reason reminded him of the voice Sam had used to ask him if he was all right when he broke his arms when he was young, a voice was full of sisterly concern. "Where's Charlie?"

What was he supposed to tell them? How was he supposed to tell them? He nodded to the officer standing guard and ushered to two women into the living room. "There was an incident. A suspect, who we thought was in custody and incapacitated, appears to have attacked and kidnapped him." He tried to say this in his best detached, FBI voice but wasn't sure he succeeded.

Whatever detachment he'd managed to maintain he quickly lost as he watched Stacey try not to burst out into tears or fall to the ground under the weight of the statement. Mulder put an arm around her and guided her to a place she could sit as she processed this new bit of information.

"I'm going to get you a drink," Dana told her quietly and then tugged on Mulder's arm. "Why don't you help me?"

Mulder followed her into the kitchen. As she fixed a glass of water for Stacey her back was to him so he had no way of seeing her expression. "What's going on?"

"Mulder, he has to be found."

"I know that," he said, a little aggravated that she thought he needed to be told this.

"No you don't understand." She turned around and delivered the crushing message. "Stacey's pregnant."

* * *

Sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring was the most excruciating thing in the world, especially when a single phone call could make or break the entire life that you've set up for yourself.

Stacy had thought that on the day she found out Charlie was being transferred and that she couldn't follow would forever be the hardest day of her life. She had been miles off target.

Right now, she was all alone in the house. She'd had to send Dana and Mrs. Scully home because her nervous energy was feeding off theirs but now, in the utter silence; she wished she'd asked them to stay.

After a couple hours, exhaustion began to take over and she started to doze on the couch. Unfortunately, whether it was the exhaustion, the worry, or the fact that her mind was racing in a dozen directions at once, she didn't feel the sharp pain in her abdomen that would have registered at any other time.

* * *

Helpless was not a feeling that Dana either liked or was particularly used to. She hated the nagging fear in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't go away no matter what story she told herself about how Charlie was going to be fine, because she knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't.

There was a chance that the sibling she was closest to wouldn't come home.

There was a chance that at any time Stacey would find out that she's now a widow.

There was a chance that Mulder would blame himself for the rest of their lives for not getting there in time.

There was a chance that her mom would have to bury her youngest child.

There was a chance that these thoughts, this stupid feeling in the pit of her stomach, would never go away.

She hated that these things even entered her mind and she once again tried to tell herself that everything would be fine but the sudden ringing of the telephone, which could be the carrier of bad news, stopped any fable she tried to weave.

"Hello?"

"Hello. May I please speak to a Dana Scully?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Ma'am we have you listed as the person to contact if we can't reach either Stacey or Charles Scully regarding David Christophers. He was supposed to be picked up today but no one came to get him and we were wondering what happened?"

"What do you mean he never got picked up? You tried to contact Stacey and she didn't answer? That makes no sense."

"Ma'am, I just called the numbers that I have. I don't know anything other than that."

Trying not to roll her eyes at the unhelpful response from the unfortunate intern that got stuck on phone duty she told him that she would be by as soon as she could and then grabbed her purse and keys and went to check on Stacey before picking up Uncle Dave.

* * *

Blood and short strands of red hair. That was all he could look at for what felt like an eternity. This sight, of evidence of a struggle on Duane Barry's hospital wrist tag, was enough to make him want to pummel him. Roughly he simultaneously grabbed Duane's wrist and spinning him around from the restrained position he was in so they were both looking at it.

"Did you hurt him?" Mulder demanded in as controlled of a voice as he could manage, which wasn't very controlled at the moment.

Duane didn't answer, but looked scared for his life. Mulder felt his anger rising and shoved him back into a chair and walked out before he did something worse.

"I hope they don't hurt him too bad," Duane called apologetically at Mulder's retreating back.

"No one goes in that room," Mulder told Krycek as he passed him. Krycek tried to engage him in a conversation but he was already walking away, needing to take a moment. He needed to keep things together, too much depended on this.

* * *

Stacey's first thought was that that annoying beeping was her alarm and that she'd better go and turn it off before it drove her crazy. Her second thought was that she wasn't in her own bed with Charlie spooned around her.

Her third thought was that reality was going to hit hard when she opened her eyes. Turns out she was right.

She was in a hospital.

And Charlie was still gone.

Her first instinct was to curl up into a little ball and cry until she couldn't anymore. She decided to go with her second and yelled at the top of her lungs while jabbing the call button. "Someone better come in here and talk to me right now!"

Finally a nurse who looked like she would take no prisoners walked in. "You can stop yelling now. The doctor will be here in a few minutes and you're disturbing the other patients."

"I want to know what's going on, right now."

"That's what the doctor is coming to do. Now shut up."

Stacey was not in the mood to be talked to like she was her students' age and was moments from bitching the nurse out when the doctor walked in.

"Mrs. Scully. Glad to see you're awake," the doctor told her but his voice sounded anything but glad. "Unfortunately, I have some bad news."

In his eyes she saw exactly what he was going to tell her, and she could already feel the tears slipping down her cheeks.

At that moment she would give anything to have Charlie's arms wrapped around her.

* * *

DC Mall

Mulder had called her and asked her to meet him here on her lunch break, but she already knew why. They hadn't found Charlie. If they had he'd be with Stacey right now but she also knew that Mulder needed to be the one to tell her, for both of their sakes.

She saw him sitting on a bench and, though she might be the only one who could tell, he looked totally defeated. He looked up as she approached him and the lost little boy look in his eye felt like a kick to the ribs that forced all the air out of her lungs. When he looked at her like that all she wanted to do was take care of him for the rest of their lives until every pain he'd ever felt had been erased and replaced with good memories.

She didn't say anything until she was sitting next to him with her arms wrapped around him in a tight reassuring embrace which he returned just as fiercely, and then all she said was his name, whispered quietly, "Mulder."

"I was too late. I couldn't find him."

"You will. You will."

Mulder shifted away from her slightly so that he could dig something out of his pocket. He opened his hand and lying in the center of his palm was Charlie's wedding ring. "I found this while- Do you think Stacey's ready to get this?"

Dana thought about it before answering. "After losing... the baby... it might be too painful." She closed his hand around it. "Return it when you find him." She smiled briefly to show her confidence but still found maintaining a smile too difficult at the moment. "You going to get to come home tonight?"

He kissed her softly before standing up. "I'll be there."

He began walking away but she called out to him one last time. He turned and looked questioningly. "You'll find him," she said, and this time they both believed.

End Part 13


	14. Coming Back

Part 14

November 2, 1994

Stacey lay in bed staring at the ceiling. This was how she'd been spending her weekends since that fateful day in August. It's amazing how losing someone makes you realize how much you depended on them. Oh, she knew that she loved Charlie with all her heart but she had no way of knowing that her world would stop spinning the second he was out of it. Or, that the longer he was gone, the faster it sped up, trying to throw her out of it as well. If she had been a third party looking in she would have said that it was pathetic to need someone this much, even if it was your husband and the love of your life.

She was on her way to falling back to sleep when the insistence of the buzzer interrupted her calm.

"Stacey!" A voice cried from outside. "Open up, now!"

She reluctantly slipped on her robe and walked slowly down the stairs to the front door. Mulder was standing outside with Dana and they both looked anxious.

"Why aren't you answering your phone?" Mulder demanded but didn't give her time to answer. "We need to get you to the hospital. Now. They've found Scully."

And once again her world stopped turning.

* * *

A coma. Her baby brother was laying in a hospital bed in a coma and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. What good was her medical training if she couldn't even save him? She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to get out of there.

"Dana?" was all Mulder said as she stood up, but his unspoken question was clear. He needed to know whether this was a time she needed him to take a step back or a step forward. Her first inclination was to tell him she was fine, which would signal that she needed to be alone, but that didn't feel right, so she simply nodded her head and he stood up as well.

For a while they just walked around the hospital. She briefly contemplated heading towards pediatrics in a fervent need to go some place where life was thriving, but it brought to mind Stacey's miscarriage and she knew that it wouldn't help.

"You know when we were little, whenever Charlie got injured, I was the first person he went to." Dana really wasn't sure if she was talking about this for Mulder's benefit, her own, or just to fill the silence, but they walked on and she continued her story. "Mom was essentially a single mom when dad was out at sea so we learned to rely on each other, so we wouldn't burden her as much. Charlie would get a bump on the head and I would get the ice. He scraped his knee, and I would be there with a Band-Aid. But one day we were playing on a slide, trying to climb up it or something, at some park the four of us had been dragged to and somehow I managed to slip and banged my chin in such a way that one of my teeth that was already loose popped out. I think Charlie was more scared than I was. He stared at the blood pouring out of my mouth for a good minute. Then he ran off, and I thought he had left me there but he came back with tissue and a Band-Aid, sure I would need that too. As I held the tissue to my freshly uncovered gum he hugged me. I thanked him later and he smiled at me and just said proudly, 'We take good care of each other, don't we Day?'" She looked sadly up at Mulder. "When did that stop being true, Mulder? Why can't I take care of him anymore?"

Wordlessly he gathered her into his arms and, not for the first time, she was thankful that he had a way of letting her gain strength from him without her feeling weak or needy. And so they stood there, in the close to empty hallway, for as long as they could deny the rest of the world existed.

* * *

"We're not taking him off life support!" Stacey screamed at the doctor as her mother-in-law held her. Maggie was busy trying to absorb the fact that she was losing her youngest son, while Dana and Mulder stood to the side, neither knowing quite what to say.

The doctor looked uncomfortable, as though he had never before had to talk to grieving family members. "Ma'am I am sorry, but you did witness his living will and it clearly states that he does not want to live in this condition. He's not below the criteria yet, however..."

They watched as Stacey tried to stare down the doctor but when tears started to fill her eyes, she turned her head away.

"I am truly sorry, Mrs. Scully."

Dana touched Mulder's arm and gestured toward the door with her head, clearly wanting to give her mother and Stacey some time to themselves. They walked back towards Charlie's bed only to see a familiar figure standing over him.

"Missy." Dana said and went to hug her sister, not feeling the need to question what she had been doing just seconds ago. It didn't take long for them to find out, however.

"Charlie's deciding whether to remain or move on," Melissa told them matter-of-factly, as if she was discussing the weather or last night's game. Then she placed her hands back in their hovering position.

Before either could respond though, Stacey and Maggie walked in to sit with Charlie. Melissa immediately brought Stacey to his side and placed her hands in a mimic of her previous stance. "He's here. You can feel him."

Stacey stepped back angrily and looked at Melissa in disbelief. "He's not here. And waving my hands around is not going to bring him back!" Stacey stormed out in the same direction she had walked through just previously.

"Stacey!" Dana called after her. When she went to follow her Mulder put out a restraining arm.

"I'll get her." He leaned forward and whispered, "Stay with your mom," before walking after her.

He didn't have to go far before he found her. She was leaning against a wall staring at her shoes, willing them to speak and tell her exactly what she had done to deserve this. They didn't have an answer either.

It wasn't until Mulder was about two steps away from her that she realized that someone had followed her. "I know she didn't deserve that," she told him, as if to preempt a chastisement. He stayed silent so she continued, this time angrily. "Don't use that interrogation trick on me! Charlie used to try and pull that, too. I am not going to 'confess' something just to fill the silence!" He just looked at her blankly and she tried to match the look, but her bottom lip started to tremble. "Damn you," she whispered before the tears she had been valiantly trying to hold in all day came pouring out.

"Stacey-" Mulder began, when her sobs became sniffles, but she cut him off.

"Don't say it."

"Don't say what?"

"'He'll pull through this.' 'He's a fighter, nothing can hold him down for long.' Or any other bullshit hidden promise trapped in a supportive comment's body. I don't want to hear any of that! You heard what that doctor said: He's going to die." She stopped when she heard her own words. "Oh, God. I'm going to lose my husband."

"Actually, I was just going to ask if you wanted to use my handkerchief." He said, holding out the cloth.

Stacey couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped her, though it quickly turned back into tears. She shook her head in disbelief at him but snatched the handkerchief out of his hand nevertheless.

He leaned against the wall next to her, effecting a relaxed position he really wasn't feeling. "You know, you were right about one thing." She turned a questioning look toward him. "Charlie is a fighter. I can't see him letting a pesky thing like odds stand in his way." In spite of herself, Stacey truly wanted to let herself believe his words. "When you're feeling up to it, you know where we'll be." He told her and began to walk back.

She watched him go before returning to her exam of her shoes. She let herself do this for 2 minutes before she straightened her shoulders and began to walk back to Charlie.

Her husband needed her.

* * *

2 Days Later

"You know, Charlie, this silent treatment is really getting old." Stacey told him as she threw down the third magazine she had read to him that day. She had spent every minute with him that the hospital staff had allowed her to; she had cut down on her 'leg stretching' time when they had removed the life support. "You know yesterday your partner did something stupid, came in here looking like he got into a fight, and you completely missed Dana lecturing him. She might be willing to reenact the scene if you just open your eyes long enough to see it."

If her rambling annoyed anyone they gave no indication so she continued. "You should feel really special you know. Somehow, you managed to get Melissa to come out here. Your mom's afraid that we'll have to pull something like this for Thanksgiving. I took the liberty of telling her that your turn was over."

She could picture him smiling at her comments in her mind; she had to blink when her eyes began to protest. She realized that she had been staring intently, hoping against hope that the smile in her mind would materialize onto his face.

"God, Charlie," she whispered, her tone no longer injected with fake cheerfulness. "You have to wake up." She stood so she could reach out and stroke his hair softly. "Please. I need you here." She stayed still for a moment, waiting in vain for a response. When none came, she sighed and resumed her seat. "Fine, if you're going to be like that I'm going to read the article about what your lipstick shade says about you, again." She picked up 'Seventeen' - she really needed someone to do a magazine run for her - and began reading.

* * *

Both Dana and Mulder were way too tired to sleep. They had spent all day at the hospital sitting by Charlie's bedside, and trying to get Stacey to take a few breaks here and there to at least visit the vending machine. After half an hour of trying to get some shuteye Mulder gave up.

"That's it. We're going somewhere."

"What?" Dana asked, surprised. She sat up and waited for an answer as he began getting dressed.

"You heard me."

"Where are we going to go?"

"I have no idea." She looked at him for one more moment of indecision but then tossed aside the covers as well. "That's my girl." Her reprimand for that comment was cut off by the phone ringing. "I'll get that," he told her, "you keep getting ready."

"Mulder."

There was a brief pause, during which he almost hung up thinking it was a prank, but then a very angry voice said down the line, "Is my sister there?"

"Uh, yeah... just a second." He walked back into the bedroom and handed the phone to Dana. She gave him a questioning look but he just shrugged and said, "Your brother."

"Billy?"

"What is he doing answering your phone?"

She closed her eyes and wished silently, 'please tell me he's joking'. "Bill, I told you Mulder was moving in here."

Bill's voice didn't lose any of its anger but gained a patronizing big brother tone. "I know that was the plan but I would think after everything that has happened-"

Her patience was wearing very thin. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that that man is responsible for our little brother lying in a hospital bed." Dana felt her jaw hit the floor and her voice deserted her when she wanted to respond the most. She couldn't remember ever being so instantly and deeply mad at her brother. He, however, took her silence as permission to continue. "He was supposed to protect him. Watch his back. Why is Charlie the one in the hospital?"

"Bill," Dana said in a voice that could only be described as quietly deadly. "Shut. Up. It is very important that if you ever want to speak to me again that you do not continue with that train of thought." For once Bill seemed to listen to her and there was silence. "Now, I'm going to hang up, and you are never going to call here again and talk to me like that."

Her thumb was halfway to the talk button when he stopped her. "Dana."

"What?"

He paused before asking hesitantly, "Is Charlie alright?"

Dana's eyes momentarily slid shut as she tried to remember if she had ever heard her brother sound scared. "He's still about the same, Billy."

"Call me. If anything changes."

"You know I will."

* * *

Stacey stirred awake. She couldn't explain why she'd been jolted from slumber, until she looked up and saw Charlie blinking sleepily at her.

"Oh. My. God," she breathed out.

He smiled crookedly at her, looking for all the world like a little boy who had just woken from a nap. "You look terrible," he told her jokingly.

She laughed happily and flung her arms around him, causing an 'oomph' of air to escape his lungs before replying, "You look wonderful."

End Part 14


End file.
